Entwined By Memories
by Jaded Delirium
Summary: AU. When Akatsuki takes over Sakura and Ino’s country, the world changes drastically. Every teenaged girl dreads becoming an Akatsuki concubine. But between staging rebellions, seducing Akatsuki, and a struggle to survive, nothing is as it seems.
1. Runaways

Summary: When Akatsuki takes over Sakura and Ino's country, the world slips into one of fear. Every teenaged girl dreads being called to be the Akatsuki's concubines. But as the girls find out later, if Akatsuki doesn't like you, you're doomed.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Oh, I do own anyone that isn't in Naruto. I'm too lazy to post my OC's. Also, I don't own the lyrics to 'Open the Eyes of My Heart', we sing that at school.

Currently, (it's the 10th of January when I'm typing this) the rating of this story is T. I will change it to M when I put in the rape, lemons, drug usage, violence, and character death. Just a heads up for you all :)

* * *

"So you're telling me that all the girls who get called to the city and don't come back are being captured as concubines for Akatsuki?" Sakura asked. She slapped a number sticky with glue on a glass wind chime. Sakura and her best friend Ino were numbering objects to be sold at the spring market. But her work and loud slaps didn't cover the skeptical tone in her voice. 

"Duh. You're missing the hints, Saks," Ino stated matter-of-factly. "First, only _girls_ get called there. Secondly, they're all aged 15 to 18. I highly doubt Akatsuki likes older chicks. Apparently these guys are all around 19 or their early twenties. Thirdly, these are _guys_ we're talking about. Betcha they have needs too."

"Sexual needs?"

"Why not? You think any girl loyal to Fire Country would willingly lose her virtue to any Akatsuki guy?"

"True. But I think you're still just overreacting, Yamanaka." A month ago, a strange group of about nine men and one woman had taken over the Fire Country. They were rumored to have god-like powers, or as the especially gullible people believed, they were gods themselves. Two weeks earlier, young women around Sakura and Ino's age had been called to Konoha, the main city in Fire Country. None of them had been seen again. And what was more, the corpse of a twenty year old woman had been found outside the city. The girl had looked like she was only sixteen or so, but the doctors of Sakura and Ino's village had deducted that she was twenty. Ino thought Akatsuki had taken her for their _purposes_, aka to satisfy their libidos, according to Ino, but then discovered that she was too old for them, so they'd killed her. Sakura thought Ino was being cynical as usual.

"You know, Saks, with all these rumors flying around that some man's daughter is the next to be kidnapped because she's pretty or is a good cook or something, sometimes I wonder if I should run away. Just get the heck out of this place so I know I won't be next on Akatsuki's line of concubines."

"What?!" cried Sakura.

"Oh, don't worry, you can come too," replied Ino airily.

"No, it's not that," said Sakura, "you're pessimistic enough to run away on your own just to avoid the possibility of being the Akatsuki's next concubine? I know they killed your family and all, but you want to run off to some strange land to get away?"

"Yep. Come on, Saks, they are why you're an orphan too."

"You've got some strange ideas, Yamanaka."

"Thanks." The girls carried the boxes of items to their table. The spring market was like a huge yard sale. Villagers came with their used goods to see if anyone would want them and to check out other people's 'junk' as Ino dryly called the piles of objects. Still sometimes one could find a gem of an item among stacks of second hand clothing, so Sakura and Ino weren't complaining.

"Oh, hi Sakura-chan, Ino-chan," their friend Hyuuga Hinata greeted them. Hinata was always nice to them, but very shy. Sometimes the girls would tease her about her secret affection for Naruto, a local boy who had a huge crush on Sakura.

"Hey, Hina-chan, how are you?" Sakura asked.

"I'm fine, thank you. I just helped Naruto-kun set up his stall." Hinata blushed when she said 'Naruto-kun'.

"You're so nice, Hina-chan," remarked Ino. "And Naruto's good for you."

"You-you really think so?" whispered Hinata.

"Yeah. Aww crud, Saks, we have to get back to our stall. Lots of other used junk just waiting to be made beautiful for its big debut tomorrow," Ino muttered sarcastically. Sakura and Hinata laughed, Sakura with her fairly loud one and Hinata's giggle which made you think that if a young dove could laugh, it would laugh like Hinata.

Sakura and Ino sat down on crudely made wooden chairs behind their stall. Sakura took out her needle and tried to finish embroidering a sweater. If she was lucky, she could get it done before the next day. The sounds of fabric dropping against the table as Ino folded stacks of old slacks accompanied Sakura as she slipped into her own world, unconsciously stitching a red rose into the fabric.

Sakura was a dreamer. Sometimes when she was bored, she would slip into her fantasy world and spin her stories. Her world was safe. Nothing would ever hurt her, she was as calm and happy as a child being cuddled by their mother. Sometimes she shared her fantasies with Ino, who always listened despite her normally blunt personality. Sakura's favourite dream, the one she always talked about with Ino at least twice a month, was about her ideal soulmate. She had it all planned out. He would be handsome, of course, strong, kind, smart, and utterly loyal to her. He would never even _think_ about straying to another girl because he had Sakura. She would be his everything, and he would be her world. Yes, that was her dream, her goal, what she wanted to have more than anything in the world.

"It's happened! It's happened!"

She started. The needle ran into Sakura's finger. Sucking the cut angrily, she tore a strip off a sock that somehow lost its partner and bandaged her finger. Then at the sound of wailing, she looked up.

A woman had collapsed next to their stall. Ino was holding a ragged blouse out to her, to use as a handkerchief. A crowd of locals were gathering around her. Sakura gasped as she recognized the distraught woman as Kurenai, one of the teachers at the village school.

"Kurenai-sensei, what's wrong?" Sakura asked. Kurenai took the blouse from Ino, muttering a disjointed 'thank you', and after blowing her nose, looked up. Her clothing was streaked with earth and ripped in several places. Her wavy hair, usually so well-kept, had clods of dirt and grass caught between locks. Scrapes marred her slender legs, and she had a darkening bruise on one cheek.

"What's wrong?" Sakura repeated. Kurenai scrunched her eyes shut. Sakura and Ino had never seen her so emotional. Kurenai-sensei was fair, kind, and firm. Sentimental and sappy were never in the same sentence as 'Kurenai-sensei'.

"My daughter… Koiko… she was called-" Kurenai broke down in sobs. The villagers waited with bated breath.

"-to the city." With rasping breath, Kurenai managed to reveal the last part of her sentence.

"I'm so sorry, Kurenai-sensei," Sakura reached over and put her arms around her former teacher. Ino followed her. Sakura caught the look that Ino sent her. Another girl gone.

"How's Asuma Jr. doing?" Ino asked. Asuma Jr. was Koiko's twin brother. They were both a year older than Ino and Sakura. The girls hadn't known either Asuma Jr. nor Koiko very well, but they felt for them anyway. Kurenai shook her head, still sobbing. Not good.

"Kurenai-san, you and Asuma Jr. can stay with Jiraiya and I," a voice said. Everyone turned. Tsunade, the head of the village, stood watching them with a pitying look. The smell of smoke lingered around her.

"W-What?" Kurenai stammered. Tsunade looked apologetic.

"A man from _Akatsuki_," Tsunade spat out the word, "was passing through the town. Some of the teenagers, boys, confronted him for stealing their girlfriends. They cornered him into your home, where Asuma Jr. was. Your son attempted to fight the villain, but he was beaten easily and was thrown out the window. Then the house was razed and the man disappeared." A heavy silence hung over the crowd.

"My son… is he alright?" Kurenai asked.

"In the same condition as you, but yes, fine. What happened to you?"

"I-I was sobbing too hard to see where I was going. I fell several times in the forest," Kurenai admitted. Tsunade extended her hand, and the two women walked away, Kurenai supported by Tsunade. Whispers broke out among the crowd. Ino grabbed Sakura's hand and pulled her away. One look was all Sakura needed. Ino's eyes were hard and her face was set with a determined look.

"Ino-chan... are you ok?" Sakura asked hesitantly. Ino faced her. Sakura never called her Ino unless she was being serious or scared. Ino didn't like her name. No one wants to be called a pig. When they'd first met, Ino had asked Sakura to call her by her surname instead. But now, Sakura felt the urge to do something, anything.

"I'm fine," Ino said curtly. But her tone stated otherwise.

_Entwined. By. Memories._

Sakura splashed water on her heart-shaped face. She used the remaining liquid in the basin to water the vegetables growing in her garden. With the empty bowl in her hand, Sakura crouched over and looked at the Haruno cottage from the other side of the garden. She sighed. No matter where she looked at her house from, what perspective she looked at it, it always looked so empty. The Haruno cottage was no longer the Haruno cottage since her remaining family members perished from the famine that had spread through the land while the country had been at war with Akatsuki. The men had all gone away to fight, so the food stock had decreased noticeably. Less workers meant less food. Every effort had been made to assist the soldiers in battling Akatsuki, so a large percentage of the already low food stocks had been sent to them. Sakura and Ino were both orphans, but Sakura's family had died of starvation, while Ino's had been killed in the war. That was one of the main differences between them. Sakura did not blame Akatsuki, she thought she should have worked harder to provide more food. Ino blamed Akatsuki, she thought they played a direct role in robbing her of her family.

She walked to the pebbly dirt road that led into the village. Standing at the side for a moment, she looked down one direction. Five minutes walk to the village. Then she looked the other way. Half an hour to the next village. A week's walk to the border. Sakura strained her eyes. When she was younger, she tried to cast her vision far down the road, but her view was always obstructed by the mountain range miles away. Her entire life had been spent behind those mountains. What would it be like to be around them?

Stepping down the road, Sakura was soon in view of the village. Her eyes trailed to the cluster of rocks beside the market. Chouji, Ino, and Shikamaru were seated on them. Shikamaru appeared to be sunbathing, eyes closed against the sun's glare. Chouji was scarfing down potato chips from a package. Ino was watching him with an exasperated look. Her footsteps made them look up.

"Hey, Saks. You're early," Ino greeted her. Sakura grinned.

"Thanks. Same for you guys."

"I wish I didn't get up so early if I knew everyone would be late," Shikamaru muttered.

"My mom doesn't let me eat around the stall, so I get here fast and snack all I want," Chouji said cheerily. As if she had supersonic hearing, the voice of Mrs. Akimichi echoed from the corner of the market.

"Chouji! I need you to help move these boxes, and don't bring any food!"

"Speak of the devil," Shikamaru commented. Chouji groaned, but he stuffed the bag in his bulging pocket and shuffled off. Shikamaru turned to the two girls.

"-sigh- You want to go? The chair's more comfortable than this rock."

"Sure, you go on ahead first, Shikamaru-kun. We'll catch up." Sakura looked up at Ino, startled. Shikamaru shrugged and left. Then Ino grabbed Sakura's arm and leaned over. Sakura shivered slightly as Ino's breath warmed the cold skin on her ear.

"Saks, I'm going to leave."

"Leave?"

"Yeah. Get out of the country." Sakura broke away and stared at her friend.

"Why?" Ino turned away and looked at the dirt path. Sakura followed her gaze. Straight ahead were the mountains.

"Saks, I'm sick of wondering who will be next called to the Forbidden city. We're scared all the time of what will happen to us. Everyone hates Akatsuki, but no one ever does anything about it. If I-no, we leave, then maybe our people will have hope. We can't let these guys dominate our lives forever. We can't let them kill whoever they feel like and treat us however they want." Sakura knew that when Ino said 'kill whoever they feel like', she was thinking of her family. The late Yamanakas.

"So the question is, Saks, do you want to come?" Sakura jumped. The tone in Ino's voice was casual, she could have been telling another one of her sarcastic jokes or reading aloud from a book.

"Me?"

"Is there another girl I know?"

"I can't do it." Ino turned and faced Sakura, her blue-green eyes trained on Sakura's jade ones. Then, abruptly, she grinned.

"Saks, I'm leaving right after the singing. I'll be on the dirt path." Ino began walking past Sakura. The sleeve of her purple hoodie brushed past Sakura's arm. Sakura turned to look at her, and at the instant Ino passed Sakura, her eyes flashed to meet her pink-haired friend's. Then she continued down the path.

Sakura stared after her for a few moments, various thoughts racing through her mind. Was Ino crazy to think that they could run away by themselves? If Sakura didn't go along, Ino probably wouldn't be able to get out on her own. Sakura had known her friend long enough to know that her mouth and blunt personality had gotten her into trouble more than a few times. Of course, Ino had talked her way out of a few situations a few times too, but still…

_Entwined. By. Memories._

Amongst the excited crowd, Sakura tried to find Ino. But there were too many faces in the way, and the murmurs of the crowd were distracting.

"Hey, Sakura-chan!" Sakura turned to see an orange-clad Naruto pushing his way through the crowd to get to her. He was jostled several times, but he emerged grinning broadly next to her. She took in his disheveled appearance, half fondly and half exasperated.

"You didn't have to be so rough, Naruto-kun," she scolded. Naruto's face fell. "But thanks. And hi to you too," she added hastily. His face lit up with the smile again.

"Isn't it awful we have to sing? I suck at singing. How about you, Sakura-chan?"

"Well, I'm not bad at it. But I actually think it's nice we sing. You know, because we all stand together. It's like we're already fighting Akatsuki with our words." Sakura's thoughts flashed back to Ino. _'We can't let these guys dominate our lives forever. We can't let them kill whoever they feel like and treat us however they want.'_

"Yeah. Damn bastards." Naruto echoed her thoughts. She was surprised how much he sounded like Ino, in a more vulgar way. "They hurt my dad. He couldn't come."

"But your dad's the pride of the village, isn't he? Everyone talks about how he's so great on the battlefield. He'll get better," Sakura said confidently. Naruto smiled at her.

"Thanks, Sakura-chan." Then Tsunade tapped the megaphone. Everyone turned and stopped talking. Tsunade smiled.

"I know you are all eager to begin-" A group of teenagers, Sakura included, whooped.

"-but this year, I would like to begin with a prayer to our Lord. These are troubled times, and we need to have faith. No matter how powerful these Akatsuki gods," Tsunade made little quotation signs with her hands, to the applause of the villagers, "appear to be, no one is more strong our Lord. Musicians, hit it!" The drum beat that followed her words made Sakura smile. It was one of her favourite songs.

"_Open the eyes of my heart, Lord, _

_Open the eyes of my heart, _

_I want to see you,_

_I want to see you. _

_Open the eyes of my heart, Lord, _

_Open the eyes of my heart, _

_I want to see you, _

_I want to see you. _

_To see you high and lifted up,_

_Shining in the light of your glory, _

_Pour out your power and love,_

_As we sing holy, holy, holy…" _

Sakura clapped along with everyone as for the final verse. They ended with a loud cheer. She punched her fist in the air, as many other teenagers did. Several songs later, the crowd applauded, and the locals dispersed to their stalls. Sakura headed to her stall. She was surprised to see it empty, but then she remembered that she and Ino combined barely had twenty items. Ino was nowhere in sight. Sakura looked at the money jar. Somehow, she found herself thinking, if they saved, and both girls were pretty good at that, they could probably spread the money out over a week and with Sakura and Ino's produce from their garden, they were set. But it was insane to try and make it over the border. Everyone knew that. But again somehow, Sakura found herself taking the money jar and shoving it under her arm. As if of their own accord, her feet made their way out the market and on to the dirt path. Ino was lounging against a tree, a bulging canvas backpack strapped on her back. Sakura stopped.

"Wow, Yamanaka, you brought your whole garden. Didn't you bring any clothes?"

"Spare underwear, extra shirt, yeah, that stuff. But I'm packing light." Ino stood up. "C'mon, Saks, let's get your stuff."

They ambled up the path casually. Sakura was surprised, somehow, it seemed like an ordinary day. This Sakura and Ino who were walking up the dirt road seemed just like the Sakura and Ino who were walking home from an outing to the village, not a Sakura and Ino who were about to make a run for the border. At Sakura's cottage, Sakura crammed an extra set of clothing and money into a canvas backpack. Outside, Ino was gathering the plants from Sakura's garden. With a lump in her throat, Sakura surveyed her bare house for the last time. She could almost hear the echo of laughter of her deceased relatives, almost see her mother bending over to her, asking if she would like some more ochazuke. But it was all in her mind.

They tipped the plants into Sakura's bag, Sakura keeping her clothing in another pocket of the bag so they would not be soiled. Ino had run home directly after the singing and shoved everything in her bag. As they walked down the dirt path, Sakura found herself playing with the bandana she used to keep her hair back. It was the last special thing that she wouldn't have to use for survival. The symbol of the Haruno family was embroidered proudly against the red background. It matched her red dress perfectly.

"Hey, look over there!" Ino exclaimed. A white rabbit stood on the lush grass. It darted away. Ino sighed, but Sakura couldn't help smiling.


	2. The Entertainers

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, does anyone really? Oh, I own the occupations of the girls (Sakura and Ino) in this fic. Also, I own anyone who is in this fic that is not a character of Naruto.

* * *

"Yamanaka, can we stop now?" Sakura asked. Ino shrugged.

"I don't see why not. And the sun's setting." They sat down on the grass. Sakura looked over her shoulder in the direction the girls had come from. In the distance, there was a mass of unnatural white amidst the grassy hills. That was their village. Sakura and Ino had been walking for hours. A crunching sound made Sakura turn her head. Ino had sunk her teeth into a purple and white vegetable.

"A turnip?" Sakura asked.

"What?" The pink-haired girl started laughing. "It was the first thing I pulled out! And turnips aren't _that_ bad. They're actually pretty good raw."

"You just look kind of funny sitting there eating a turnip. I don't know why," Sakura finished with a giggle. Ino shoved her hand into Sakura's backpack. She felt something kind of… lacy? Yanking it out, she studied it almost disbelievingly.

"Whoa, Saks. You wear thongs?" Sakura instantly stopped laughing and glared.

"What the hell?!"

"That's freaking hardcore, even for you, Saks," Ino teased. Sakura snatched at Ino, who jumped up and ran down the path.

"If you want it back, you have to catch me!" she yelled.

"Get back here!"

"Nuh-uh!" Sakura hurtled down the road. Feet pounding against the dry dirt, she felt exhilarated, even if the high she got was off chasing her friend who was running away with her thong. Wait… Sakura didn't own a thong. Then whose was that?

"Hey, what's this?" Ino asked. Stopping abruptly, she pulled out a piece of paper from the lace. Sakura couldn't stop fast enough so she sort of skidded and toppled into Ino. They scuffled over the note for a moment, then decided mutually to read the note together.

_Dear Sakura-chan,_

_Gai-sensei and I were washing our fantastic green spandex training suits today when you came up in our conversation. I wanted to find a gift for you, my beloved, and Gai-sensei was complaining about not finding underclothing tight and comfortable enough to wear with our wonderful skin-tight suits. It came to me in a stroke of genius that I could solve the Gai-sensei's problem and my own dilemma of a present for you that I could give my two most adored people in the world matching gifts. Gai-sensei thinks his new underwear is completely fitting and perfect for him. I sincerely hope this gift brings you as much joy too. _

_Yours truly, Rock Lee_

_P.S. Your present and Gai-sensei's came in the same set. Forgive me, I could not purchase two sets. This is part of the first set. _

"LEE?!" Sakura shrieked.

"OH MY GOD! Saks, you and Gai have MATCHING UNDERWEAR!!!" Ino yelled. Sakura let out a string of obscenities.

"Whoa. Saks, let's burn that thing." Ino gestured to the horrendous underwear.

"Won't that be a waste of money, though?" Sakura asked.

"You didn't ask for it. Lee has poor taste in gifts. Come on, let's burn it." Sakura hesitated, but in doing so her gaze fell upon the incriminating lacy article.

"Lee's not going to care. He won't even be here to see."

This made Sakura hesitate. It was true. They had left everything behind, and they would never see Lee's perpetual joie de vivre or Shikamaru lying on the grass with Chouji. It left an odd sinking feeling. She changed the subject to get the feeling off.

"Fine. Let's light a fire." Ino took out her packet of matches and they went hunting in the forest for wood. Though scurrying in the mud left Sakura's sandals dirty and her hands soiled, she somehow felt happy to be out in the open with her best friend. Finally, she tasted a bit of the freedom they had longed for.

"Hmm… either we priced those items wrong or my math is worse than a two year old's," muttered Ino. Sakura looked up.

"What?"

"Saks, why do we have less than seven dollars?" Sakura snatched the wallet containing all their money from Ino. They'd pooled their cash back at the cafe where they had eaten their lunch.

"Augh! Don't tell me we got robbed!"

"Maybe we shouldn't have played the finding people game," Sakura chuckled. Ino snorted.

"It was fun at first, though. When I asked 'Which is the most attractive person here?' and you said 'Oh, that guy over there,' and some other nerdy guy looked over at you."

"And I winked!" Sakura laughed as the memory came back to her.

"The guy practically fainted in his pie," Ino reminisced. "And you asked me who's the most funny looking person, and I said the guy with the yellow eyes. Hmm, Saks, what colour eyes would you want your ideal boyfriend to have?"

"Something cool."

"Cool. Why don't we switch his eyes for diamonds?"

"Aww Yamanaka, I said cool, not ridiculously extravagant. Like an interesting eye colour. Amber, red, heterochromatic. Red would sort of be cool."

Ino laughed. "We'll have to wait a while for your knight in shining armor with pretty eyes."

Then she grimaced as another not so pleasant memory came to her. "Ooh Saks we sure screwed ourselves over when you asked 'Who looks like the most likely person to end up as trailer trash?'"

"And you pointed to the potbellied guy behind you without realizing he stood there and said 'What's trailer trash? Oh, that guy?'"

"I was dead for sure. He probably snatched the stuff then," Ino remarked. Then she sighed. "Saks, what are we going to do about money?" Sakura shrugged.

"Not sure. Let's light the fire first." Ino struck a match and dropped it in the pile of twigs. The two girls gazed deep into the flames. The crackle of the fire calmed Sakura's mind. She began to sing softly. A few minutes later, Ino turned to her.

"Hey Saks, what was that song?"

"Memories, by Within Temptation." Ino was silent for a few moments.

"Could we make money if you sang?" Sakura jolted up.

"Me? Sing? Money?"

"Yes. You. Sing. Earn. Money. You ok, Saks?" Sakura slumped backward on the ground.

"I don't know, Yamanaka. I don't have much confidence for stuff like this. I hate it when people stare at me." Ino sighed. She picked up a long stick and started twirling it absently. Sakura stared into the fire until a whooshing noise caught her attention. Looking up, she saw te end of the stick was on fire, but Ino didn't even notice. And somehow, she was spinning the stick very quickly with only two fingers. The flames swished pass her eyes, nearly reducing her blonde hair to a burnt wisp, but Ino couldn't have been more oblivious.

"Yamanaka!" Sakura yelled. Ino jumped and threw the stick in the fire.

"You scared me, Saks. What's wrong?"

"You're not scared of fire! And you have good fingers!"

"So?"

"Maybe… maybe…" Sakura was so excited she could hardly get the words out. The idea had taken over, she was a good singer, Ino wasn't scared of fire. Sakura hated people looking at her, but if Ino took their eyes away, Sakura could occupy their ears.

"That's crazy, Saks," Ino leaned back and looked at the sky. Sakura looked at her, disappointed.

"First, I need some proper fire tools. And you, Saks, have to practice singing your heart out." She grinned at Sakura, a quick mischievous sharp-cornered smile. When they'd first met, Sakura had been a bit intimidated by how much confidence flashed in that grin, but then she'd gotten used to it.

They walked for an hour until they came across another village. Sneaking into the village's dumpsite, Sakura and Ino spent another hour searching for wires or anything they could use to make Ino a proper fire instrument. Finally, they settled down outside the village with several wire coat hangers. By the light of the fire, Sakura watched as Ino shaped the wire into an obscure shape.

"Yamanaka, what are you making?" Sakura couldn't help asking.

"You'll see, Saks," Ino replied, not taking her eyes off the twisted wires. "Is there any rawhide leather?"

Fascinated, Sakura watched as Ino twisted two coat hanger wires together till there was one thin inflexible wire stick. She made about seven of these strong wire sticks and spread them out in a semi circle shape. Taking another few wires, she twisted them so that they interlocked, and the seven original wires were spread out in a fan shape. Then Ino stuck a chunk of wood on the end of one twisted wire stick. She made several knots with a piece of leather onto one wire, and did the same with new leather and other chunks of wood on the other wires. Finally, Ino fastened a thick wire handle of sorts to the end of the wire semi circle. Holding it up, she showed Sakura the finished piece. It looked as though Ino had a fan and tore out the cloth in between the wire, then attached wood to the ends of the fan.

"Wow. Where did you learn to do that, Yamanaka?" asked Sakura admiringly.

"Read a magazine article about fire spinning, or shall we say, fire dancing." Then Ino held up the fire fan and stared at it.

"Hmm, you know what we need?"

"What?"

"Granite sulphur. The stuff on the end of a match. Then I could just lightly scrape then end of the fan against something and it would be on fire. Wouldn't that be cool?" Ino turned to Sakura with excited eyes. She looked so happy, Sakura knew she couldn't turn her down.

"We'll look for some in the next town." Ino squealed and threw her arms around Sakura.

"Thanks, Saks!" With another handful of wires, wood chunks, and leather, Ino made another fire fan. Then she stood up.

"I'm going to practice, Saks. No fire yet." Ino pirouetted with the fans spread out around her and darted across the grass. Sakura squinted to see her friend in the darkness, and smiled as she saw the blonde girl seem to fly through the air with the fire fans flashing. But then the silhouette froze.

"Hey Saks, shouldn't you be practicing too?" Sakura blinked.

"Oh yeah. Hmm…" There was a pause. Then her voice rang out like a flock of birds bursting free into the sunset. Ino smiled, at her friend's courage, at the lovely voice, and at the familiarity of the song.

_Lonesome stranger, with a crowd around you_

_I see who you are. _

_You joke, they laugh, then the show is over_

_Then you fall so hard_

_If you're needing _

_A soul-to-soul connection _

_I'll run to your side_

_When you're lost in the dark  
When you're out in the cold  
When you're looking for something that resembles your soul  
When the wind blows your house of cards  
I'll be a home to your homeless heart…_

(this isn't the end of the song, btw. I cut it off short.)

And Sakura sang on, and Ino lit the fire fan and swept across the air. The villagers swore that the two figures masquerading on their grass were witches, or gypsies, but more than one person stayed awake that night to watch the mysterious singer and fire spinner.

_Lovers. Under. The. Indigo. Sky._

Sakura twirled the knob on the record player nervously. It had been a week since the girls had decided to sing and fire dance for their money. They would have reached the border by now, but it was hard to keep at a steady walking pace when Sakura was racking her mind for suitable songs and Ino began twirling her fire fans in an effort to create a new routine. Yesterday, the girls had reached a town and discovered a sign posted by a frantic man needing last-minute entertainment at a party hosted the next day. They'd signed up, and even practiced a routine in front of the man, but now they were nervous. This was their big debut.

"You nervous, Saks?" Ino asked. She didn't seem so confident herself. Her fingers, normally so adept with the fire fans, were trembling.

"Y-yeah," Sakura muttered. Ino grinned.

"Lucky you. I'm the one everyone's going to be staring at. Saks, let's leave early just in case some balding senior wants to enforce Lolita complex on us or something." Sakura managed to laugh at Ino's blunt grammar.

"Alright, I'll cheer up. Good luck, Yamanaka."

"I'll need it. Same to you." They hugged, then the girls stepped out onto the platform. It was a semi-formal party. Ornate red lanterns hung from posts lodged in the dirt, and a water wheel sprayed the pond beneath it with shimmering droplets. The guests hushed when Sakura and Ino entered the platform. Sakura could feel their eyes scanning them. A woman dressed in an elaborate red silk gown scrutinized them in the front, while an old man with drooping eyes examined Sakura. She gulped. The host of the party had managed to provide them with costumes. Sakura wore a red off-the-shoulder sheath dress. She knew she looked pretty good, but she could tell many of the people, especially the men, were gaping at Ino.

Ino was clothed in a black gothic dress. It was fastened over her shoulders by two dark straps and clung to her waist and hips. Her figure held up the dress perfectly. She wore black shorts underneath a flared multi-layered black hem, which just reached the middle of her thighs. With fishnets adorning her arms, Ino stood in the middle of the stage, fire fans raised. Sakura took a deep breath, and flipped the switch on the record player. The thick black disc (they're using an old kind, this is an AU story) began turning, and Sakura listened to the first few beats of the song. Then she opened her mouth, and everything began.

(Note: if you want to know the name of the song, Charmaine Sheh sings it in the TVB 'The Dance of Passion'. The song is called Lovers on the Golden Sand, which helped me with the name of this fic. But the song is in Cantonese, so I can't put it up.)

The guests were entranced by Sakura's voice and the flash of flames as Ino spun across the darkened sky. Sakura's voice was not dripping with honey and promising sweet melody, but somehow had the ability to tap into the eager listener's emotions. As she sang of chasing dreams and uncertainty, her voice slipped into the ears of the people. She tapped memories that required a handkerchief to the eye to reminisce with a mere whisper of melancholy song. The spellbound listeners found themselves searching for words to describe the pink-haired girl and her voice. Amazing? Spectacular? Beautiful? But none of these words seemed good enough.

Ino felt exhilarated as the flames swept past her ears. Throwing her fire fans in the air, she turned a cartwheel on the stage. Leaping into the air, she caught them both in time, earning a gasp from the audience. The smell of kerosene reached her nose and made her head dizzy, but the feeling was swept out as she executed a flip mid-air. It was like flying accompanied by the rush of flame. Spinning the fans between her legs, weaving them in and out, all of it left her breathless, surging with adrenaline. As Sakura's voice peaked higher, Ino's movements became faster, and when her friend sang softly, Ino took her time in seducing the audience's eyes. There was understanding flowing between them, Sakura was not scared of singing with fast verses because she knew Ino could handle them. Ino could predict when Sakura would raise her voice and timed exactly when too move. It was a bond that could only be described as true, honest friendship, with no secrets and no limits.

The two girls were so caught in their rhythm that they failed to notice two figures in black cloaks seated at a table near the back. One nudged the other with its elbow.

"Hey Kakuzu, don't those two girls fit the description of those runaway bitches we're supposed to catch?" The silver-haired man asked.

"Let's see. Haruno Sakura- pink hair, fifteen years old, green eyes. Yamanaka Ino- platinum blonde hair, fifteen years old, blue-green eyes." Kakuzu looked at the girls on the stage. "Doesn't say nothin' about fire dancing or singing. Hidan, what do you think?" He looked up, but his partner was no longer listening to him. Instead, his violet eyes were fixed on the Yamanaka fire dancer performing on the stage.

"Hey Kakuzu, doesn't that girl sort of look like Deidara?" Kakuzu took a closer look.

"Yeah, hairstyle-wise. But she's prettier."

"Who, this girl or the effeminate art freak?" Hidan chuckled.

"Good one. I meant her." Kakuzu gestured to Ino. "Hmm… even if these two aren't the girls we're looking for, the others won't mind if we bring them back, won't they?" Hidan smirked.

"I like your thinking, you stingy bastard."

* * *

Ahh, the plot thickens. Aside from the fact that I gave one of the pairings away in the first chapter, there are some hints to the guys Sakura and Ino will be paired with.

Thanks for reading! Reviewers are dearly loved. Bye until the next chapter!


	3. Making a Bet

Disclaimer: Ino is blonde, Sakura is pink, I don't own Naruto, doesn't that stink? Actually I think Naruto would be better off if I didn't own it, but if Kishimoto started selling Naruto stock, I wouldn't mind owning a share.

* * *

"Saks, help me with the zipper, will you?" asked Ino. She turned around to reveal the black zipper. Sakura examined it. A few threads appeared to be tied to the hole in the zipper. 

"The dressmaker wanted to make sure the dress wouldn't come apart when I did something drastic. He tied up the zipper, but I can't undo the knot."

"You'd be helpless without me, huh Yamanaka?" teased Sakura. Ino tried to reach under the gothic dress to poke her.

"Just undo the knot, please?" They finally got Ino out of the tight dress. Sakura was fixing her bandana when they heard a knock on the door. She pulled it open. The host of the party was there, looking sheepish.

"Thank you so much for entertaining us tonight on such short notice," he gushed. Sakura smiled.

"Anytime."

"You were wonderful, girls!" he exclaimed. Then embarrassment returned to his expression. "What were your names again?"

"Sarasa and Yukino," Sakura answered. When they'd first met the man, he'd asked what their names were. The girls had never thought about needing pseudonyms, but they wanted to be safe. A formal party might mean an Akatsuki member would be in attendance. Off the top of her head, Ino had thought up names that sounded like their actual names.

"Well, girls, you're free to go. Thank you again." The man handed a wad of bills to Sakura, who rifled through them. Ino peeked over her shoulder and whistled.

"Wow. Two hundred bucks."

"Well, we deserve, don't we?" asked Sakura. Heaving their bags over their shoulders, the girls left the room. A few guests, most still clutching wine glasses, nodded at them. Then a silver haired man blocked their way.

"That was a really good performance," he said. Sakura analyzed him. He was young probably in his late teens or early twenties. The man had a smile on his face, but it looked a little more like a smirk.

"Thank you," she said hesitantly. Sakura didn't hear anything from Ino. Normally, even her friend would be more polite. Sakura turned around, but Ino wasn't looking at the man. Or rather, she was, but not at his face. She seemed to be examining his cloak with a horrified look on her face. Sakura looked back at the man. He was still smiling at her, but now she fully absorbed the black cloak patterned with red clouds. Akatsuki.

"Shit, Saks, run!" Ino yelled. Yanking Sakura by the arm, the two girls hurtled to the entrance. Sakura was running fast, faster than she'd ever run in her entire life. Fear crept down her spine as if she'd been doused with ice water. They dove past the wooden arch and straight into the woods next to it. Sakura's heart was pounding in her ears. She had no sense of direction to where they were going, as long as it was far away from that man.

He appeared right in front of them. Sakura tried to dig her still-running feet into the dirt, but it was futile and they slammed into the man, who didn't seem affected at all. The silver-haired man yanked her up roughly and carried her under his arm like a football. She screamed and pounded at his side, but it was as useless as wrestling with a boulder and a lot less pleasant. He quickly covered her mouth and strode away. Sakura could see Ino beside her, being carried football-style by a man with a cloth over his mouth. It vaguely reminded her of Kakashi-sensei.

Ino wasn't fighting with screams, like Sakura did. She'd whipped out her fans and swung them at the unknown man, but he wrenched them out of her hands. The girls looked at each other with similar expressions. Defeat and utter horror.

"Geez, you've finally shut up." The voice came from the silver-haired man.

"Oi, Hidan, where did Zetsu say he was meeting us?" Ino's captor said. The man called Hidan shrugged. Sakura felt the motion pull her up and drop her.

"Somewhere around he-" Hidan stopped and expelled a string of profanities. They turned around. Sakura gasped.

A man who appeared to be encased in a venus fly trap had popped up from nowhere. He had green hair and apparently had some sort of skin condition, half of his face was white and the other half black. Sakura shivered. He was the most horrifying looking person she had ever seen. The strange venus fly trap man drew closer, and Sakura caught a whiff of decaying bodies.

"You stink like the fucking dead, Zetsu. Had a nice meal?" Hidan asked sarcastically.

"Cannibalism does not provide many options," the man called Zetsu said darkly. "You've caught them?"

"Yeah. It was easy. Leader should pay us double for catching them in less than a day," The greedy man who caught Ino remarked.

"Shut the fuck up, Kakuzu."

"You shut up, Hidan."

Zetsu leered at Ino. She recoiled at first, then glared at him.

"Hmm… you look pretty tasty," he said.

"I can't really say that for you," Ino retorted. He glared at her, at least Sakura thought he did because he seemed to give her a hard stare. Then he grabbed Hidan and Kakuzu by their arms. Sakura felt a strange sort of _wind_ pass over her. An odd almost trembling motion crept up from her feet to her head. Something rushed around them, and then suddenly they were in a hall. Sakura had never been in one before, but she heard there were many in the Forbidden Palace.

Why was the palace forbidden? For centuries, only emperors and their concubines and advisors had been allowed in the palace. It was the same for Akatsuki. The only people who were allowed in the palace were Akatsuki, their subordinates, and the concubines. The Forbidden City, on the other hand, was not actually 'forbidden'. Concubines were the only people who were forbidden to enter the city. It was another part of the reason why Sakura and Ino hadn't wanted to become concubines, they would also be confined to the palace.

The hall alone was imposing to Sakura. It was longer than her entire cottage multiplied by two. Lanterns were hung on the walls, throwing shadows on the corridor and giving it an eerie look. A window on the opposite wall showed darkness, the sun had set. Ino threw Sakura a terrified look.

Hidan walked down the hall and turned left. The girls heard him talking, but couldn't catch what he was saying. Then he walked back down the hall, smirking. Grabbing Ino by the shoulder, he yanked her along the hall. She looked over him to Sakura, who saw horror written all over her face.

"Where're we going?" Ino cried. Hidan smirked again. Ino felt the blood drain from her face. "Oh no…" she muttered.

"Yamanaka!" yelled Sakura. Kakuzu kicked her to make her quiet down.

"Sakura! Sakura!" She heard her friend's calls down the hall. There was a slam, and Ino continued yelling, though the sounds were more muffled.

"Yamanaka…" Sakura's voice trailed off. Ino had run away out of fear that she would become a concubine. Now it was almost ironic that she was being forced.

_Entwined. By. Memories._

Deidara had been sculpting, as usual, when Hidan had burst in his room, without knocking, as usual. When he'd yelled at Hidan, the immortal man had just smirked.

"Don't yell at me, bastard. We got you a present."

"What, hmm?" Hidan had laughed. Deidara had waited, impatience mounting.

"You're going to find this one very _similar_ to you. She's a _fiery _one, so don't piss her off," Hidan remembered Ino's skill with fire. He'd laughed again at the expression on Deidara's face.

"Another one, un? The last girl fainted when I showed her my hands, yeah."

"Whatever. I'm bringing the bitch in." Hidan walked out of the room, not bothering to close the door. Deidara retreated to the back of the room. He wanted to get a look at this girl before he decided to destroy her, see if she'd be worth bedding before he killed her. Hidan returned and threw a blonde girl in the room. Slamming the door shut, Hidan left. She landed on her stomach and looked up. Deidara adjusted his position to see her better but so she couldn't see him.

Now he knew what Hidan meant about the 'similar' comment. The girl had her bangs on the right side of her face, a hairstyle oddly similar to his own. She had aqua blue-green eyes, and that was all he saw before she turned around and began banging her fists on the door.

"Sakura! Sakura!" she yelled. In the distance he heard another call in response, but it was too muffled for him to hear the words.

"Shit," the girl said to herself. Looking around, she spotted his window and raced over to it. Taking a pair of slim objects out of the pockets of her hoodie, she began shifting the knobs that kept the window screen in place. As she moved, he saw she wore a purple hoodie that, at first glance, looked like a mini dress but was actually an overlong hoodie. The girl wore her hair in an attractive high ponytail and wore a pair of black leggings under the long hoodie. She had a nice figure as well, it even showed under the baggy shirt. As she pulled the window screen off it's frame and opened the window, he couldn't help but make a comment.

"You could have used the balcony, you know." She whipped around. Fear flashed through her eyes, then anger. Then she did something that utterly surprised him. In less than a second, she spread out the two objects, which looked like metal fans with holes in them and wood chunks on the ends. Striking the wood against the floor, she instantly set them aflame. She moved them in a quick semicircle around her, setting the floor on fire. It was a smart move to prevent him from following her as she escaped out the window.

Deidara called one of his clay tigers to smother the flames and another to grab the girl around her waist. He always kept a pre-made sculpture around just in case anyone tried to pull a stunt in his room. One tiger rolled over the flames and another chomped on the girl's hood, yanking her back into the room. Opening her eyes, she scanned the room and saw him. Jumping up, she ran toward him and aimed her fire fans at him. He ducked just in time.

Even if she wasn't a shinobi, she was pretty good. She could spin on her toes and nearly impaled his eye on the end of her flaming fan. And she obviously wasn't afraid of fire, hence Hidan's comment about her being fiery. But she probably had mental problems or was psychotic, because Hidan and Kakuzu would probably keep someone this pretty for themselves.

She managed to push him into the corner of the room, but Deidara used chakra to jump over her on the ceiling. This was getting tiring. She was eventually going to wear out, so he poured some chakra into his clay and made a group of grasshoppers pounce on the ends of her fans, putting them out. The girl drew back.

"Oh cra-" whatever she was going to say was cut off as he tackled her to the ground, knocking the fans out of her hands.

Ino couldn't imagine a more futile situation. She was being pinned on her back to the ground with an Akatsuki member on top of her. To make matters worse, he'd taken away her fire fans. Ino had seen surprise and almost admiration in his face before she began attacking him. Akatsuki probably didn't often get confronted by an angry fire-wielding concubine.

"I knew you had problems, un. Hidan and Kakuzu wouldn't send someone this cute to me, would they, hmm?" She opened her eyes, which she had been screwing shut tightly. Now that she wasn't concentrating on anything else, she could focus on him for the first time. He had a hairstyle very similar to hers, with his left eye covered. She didn't know whether it was intact or not. His visible eye was blue-grey and he was smirking down at her. And he wasn't unpleasant to look at.

"Whatever," Ino huffed and averted her eyes. He moved off her front, letting her sit up, but kept pinning her legs down. His long blonde hair, a shade darker than her own, brushed her face as he turned around to pick up her fire fans.

"Give those back!"

"And what, to have you try to attack me again? You're going to have to earn these back, little girl."

"I'm not a little girl. And I didn't know Akatsuki allowed lesbians," Ino commented dryly. He glared at her, apparently this was a touchy subject.

"Hey, if you can't take it, don't dish it out."

"Shut up, un. That attitude isn't going to help if you want to get out of this alive." He leaned back against the wall and sighed. Ino copied his movement, sitting a few meters away.

"Too much trouble for you?" He ignored her. There was a long awkward silence. Ino took the time to inspect his room. He had a futon in the corner and cushions in the middle of the room, but what interested her were the shelves on the walls. They were covered in white sculptures. Ino tore her eyes away from them and saw a familiar potted plant next to a balcony.

"Oh hey, you have a new year's plant." Ino got up and looked deep into the hole in the stem. No flower. But it wasn't new year's yet, so she wasn't really expecting one.

"A what?"

"A new year's plant. I'm not sure what they're called, but on new year's and only at new year's, a flower blooms in the hole there," Ino pointed at the same hole. The man laughed.

"Did you use to be a botanist or something, un?" Ino smiled slightly. He was shocked to see what a difference the smile made to her face, even though he didn't show it.

"I used to own a flower shop with my family, but they… died in the war," she said. It wasn't really a good idea to mention the war in the presence of Akatsuki.

"That plant was left over from the last guy, so I don't know anything about it, yeah," he said. "Sorry about your family."

"If you don't regret having this war, then don't say you're sorry," Ino snapped. "Akatsuki killed them." He shrugged.

"Don't be so touchy, un, flower girl." She rolled her eyes. Suddenly, it struck her that having a normal conversation with an Akatsuki member was pretty odd. Ino turned to him.

"Well this is kind of strange… aren't you supposed to be making me gyrate around a pole or something?" A smirk flitted across his face.

"You don't know the difference between a pole dancer, a concubine, and probably a geisha, do you, hmm? Figures, you being a _flower girl_, yeah." Ino rolled her eyes.

"I don't find these things as interesting as _you_ seem to." He turned on his side to face her. She could see that he was pretty young, only about 18 or 19.

"A pole dancer… well you know already, hmm. Concubines are girls like you who are specially picked for entertainment of sorts, un." Ino got what he meant by 'entertainment of sorts'. "And geishas are amusement artists, not prostitutes."

"Hmm… so a concubine is like a private whore? Should I feel honoured to be 'specially chosen'?" Ino said sarcastically. The man laughed.

"You have some pretty strange ideas, un." Ino felt a small smile come.

"That's what Sak-" She sprang up. "Oh crap! Sakura!" Swiping her fans off the ground, she headed for the door. A voice stopped her.

"Where do you think you're going, hmm?"

Ino turned to see him watching her.

"Listen, it's been nice talking to you but I have to go."

"You're either very brave or an idiot, un. Other people think Akatsuki members are gods and don't dare defy us, yeah. Fire fan girl, I think you're interesting."

Ino turned around. She'd always wanted to ask an Akatsuki member something but the opportunity had never come up. "Are you guys gods? Everyone says you have superhuman powers." He analyzed her closely.

"But you don't think so, hmm?"

"No. I think you guys are probably stronger, but not gods. Are you guys vampires or something?" The man smirked.

"Maybe." Deidara was just teasing her, so he didn't expect her to take it seriously. But she did, and she instantly racked up the various methods of killing a vampire. Ino didn't have a silver stake, so she hoped her fans would suffice. She'd just turned on her heels, fans outstretched, when the fans were again knocked out of her hands and she found herself pressed stomach to the wall with the blonde Akatsuki member at her back. He lowered his head to her neck and grazed the back of it lightly with his teeth. Ino shivered as he did so. He smirked.

"Still think I'm a vampire?"

"Well, I'd appreciate it if you didn't try anything," Ino retorted. He drew back but kept her slammed on the wall.

"Let's play a game, un." Ino's eyes flew open in shock.

"Tell me, are you possibly insane?" She'd just tried to attack him again, and now he was suggesting they play a game. Well, he was Akatsuki, so the game probably wasn't an innocent one. He laughed.

"Anyway, fire fan girl, here are the rules, yeah. If you and that friend of yours can get across the border of Fire Country before my subordinates catch you, Akatsuki will let you go, un. If you can't do it, you'll have to come back here and be my concubine." He pushed her closer to the wall, gripping her shoulders. "Do we have a deal, yeah?"

"That's a pretty unfair bet," Ino replied. She heard him chuckle. The motion rumbled through his body and into her back.

"If it helps you to think of it as a bet, go ahead. I'll give you a two-day head start, un. So, do we have a deal?" Ino thought of her options. It might be her only chance to escape. Then again, she didn't trust Akatsuki.

"Fine," she said. Ino heard a small explosion behind her, and he turned her around. There was a giant clay bird behind her. He forced her to get on it, then opened the door to the balcony. The bird strode through it and flapped it's wings. Ino looked at the man.

"Thanks."

"Hold on tight, fire fan girl, yeah." She gripped the bird's neck, and it flew off. Over the wall of the palace they soared, and she landed right at the gates. The bird disappeared, and she saw a pink-haired figure run out of the woods.

"Yamanaka!"

_Entwined. By. Memories._

Sakura had been paraded down the unending corridors. Hidan, Kakuzu, and Zetsu had been talking quietly among themselves. She'd tried to calm down, but fear clenched in her gut. Ino was gone, probably at the mercy of some Akatsuki member. And Sakura herself was scared and alone.

Then a door opened, and a boy her age stepped out. He had black hair, onyx eyes, and wore a navy blue shirt with a pair of white shorts. The boy had an odd hairstyle, almost bird-like, but also had a perfectly sculpted face. He had a sort of elegance that made Sakura look at him, if not stare.

"Hey, Sasuke. Why aren't you wearing that Orochimaru shit?" asked Hidan. Sakura rolled the boy's name off her tongue inwardly. _Sasuke_. She liked the sound of it.

The boy looked at her, looked at her scruffy appearance. His gaze rested on her face. Sakura blushed inwardly, being carried like a football and then shoved around did tousle one's appearance.

"Are you a new concubine?" he asked her. Sakura nodded.

"I'll take care of her from here," Sasuke stated. He had a firm voice, which Sakura liked. Sasuke seemed very mature.

"Sure, have fun," Kakuzu replied. He pushed Sakura into the room and Sasuke closed it. As the sound from the other Akatsuki member's voices drifted away, they found an awkward silence.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Sakura. And you're Sasuke, right?" Sakura asked timidly. He moved wiped some dirt off her face. His hands were warm against her icy cheek.

"You've been through a lot, haven't you?" She nodded. "You'll be safe now. I'll try to help you as best I can, alright?"

Without warning, her eyes overflowed. Sakura herself didn't know why, but his kind tone warmed her heart and pulled the strings to her tightly fastened bundle of emotions loose. The thought of Ino crept in her mind, and the tears fell harder. There was a cut-off swear word, and Sasuke handed her a white handkerchief. She blew her nose quietly.

"Is there someone you miss?" he asked. He knew her well.

Sasuke nodded. At least, she thought he did. Her eyes were too blurred to see.

"I see," he said quietly. "My brother killed my entire clan. When I killed an enemy of Akatsuki," he said 'Akatsuki' in a way that let her know he was against the organization as much as she was, "and forced me to join."

Somehow, hearing his misfortunes made Sakura feel better about hers, at least a bit better. It was strange, really. Sasuke's voice brought her out of her thoughts.

"When you first arrived here, which hallway was your friend taken down? The left passage or right?" Sasuke was gambling on the fact that Zetsu liked to appear in a certain corridor. Pein had placed a chakra-restoration potion on a shelf in that hall.

"Um… Hidan turned left. And he didn't go too far. I could still hear her yelling," Sakura said. Sasuke thought about this.

"Looks like he took her to Deidara's room," Sasuke muttered. Sakura clutched at his arm.

"Is he mean? I hope he doesn't hurt her!" Sasuke was silent again.

"Does she get scared by people with hmm…" he groped for the right word, "…distorted features?" Sakura pondered this.

"Not really?" She saw a smile spread across his face. It improved his looks.

"He'll probably tease her, but that's all." Sakura beamed.

"I'm glad." She smiled, but saw Sasuke was looking elsewhere. Out the window, to be specific.

"Listen…" he said quietly. She leaned in. "… you want to escape, right?"

"Uh-huh…" Sakura replied. She was unsure of how the conversation would go.

Sasuke walked out of the room into a closet. While he was inside, Sakura took the time to look around. He had pretty good taste, she thought. There was a painting of red and white fans on the wall and a futon at the far corner. Sasuke had a small wooden table with a tea set on it and navy blue cushions surrounded the table. He must like navy blue a lot, Sakura thought.

He returned with a small messenger bag, which he handed to Sakura. She opened it, there were folded bills inside.

"What-"

"This will cover your expenses," Sasuke said, still talking in a low voice. The distance, heavy with brevity, made her feel odd. Sakura felt colour rise to her face. She breathed in his scent; he smelled like something pleasant but she couldn't put her finger on it.

In a flash, they were at the gates of the palace. Sakura staggered, and he reached out and tilted her upright. He patted her on the shoulder.

"Be safe, alright?" he said. She nodded. With one last smile, he disappeared. Sakura couldn't help but look around, even though she knew she wouldn't see the flash of black eyes behind a tree or see a retreating back. Sakura hid in the woods to wait. A few minutes later, she heard the flap of wings. A giant white bird landed on the ground and promptly disappeared. To Sakura's surprised, Ino dismounted it.

"Yamanaka!"

* * *

Oh dear, Sasuke must be on crack to be so nice. Aie, he's hard to write! Sorry, I know he _is _OOC. 

Sakura's meeting with Sasuke was too short [. Somehow, I couldn't stretch it as long as Ino and Deidara's.

Not quite sure when I'll update next. I'll try to make it within this week.

Thanks for reading, reviewers are very kind. Readers are great too.


	4. A Chase

Disclaimer: Yeah, don't own Naruto.

Sasuke was OOC. Hmm, in most fics, Sasuke is either horny, immediately-falls-in-love-with-the-main-character, not even in the fic, or gay. Yeah, I don't have much basis for comparison. Really, he is actually quite difficult to write. Or maybe I just stink :(

Enough bantering, here's your fic.

* * *

The ground rushed up to meet Sakura as she plunged toward the dirt. She was going to have to pick pebbles out of her worn out sandals, and that would waste a minute or so. Just a minute, but it was a precious minute when they were on the run. 

Then gravity stopped working. Sakura opened her eyes to see Ino, who was staggering to support both their weights. They collapsed on the dirt, and both panted heavily. Ino managed to grin at her.

"Watch your step, Saks. We've had too many close encounters." Sakura nodded. She ground her teeth together and cursed inwardly.

First there'd been the odd presence that caused them to leave a few dollars on the restaurant booth and hightail it out the door. Then Sakura had been rummaging among the bruised apples at a market when she caught a flash of black and red patterned cloak disappearing around the corner. They'd narrowly escaped a man dressed entirely in black, who nearly strangled Sakura until Ino knocked him a good one on the temple with her fire fans. And finally, the vendor they were haggling with had complained about all the customers hurrying to return home because it was rumored that a member of Akatsuki, or at least a subordinate, was going to stay in town for a while.

"We were- lucky," Ino said, "except for that guy who tried to take your head off, that was the only really dangerous encounter we've had." She lay back on the prickly grass. Only gardens were watered regularly, their grass lush and soft. Public dry grass, Ino thought, does nothing for anyone who wants to take a break. Then again, only runaways like us use these patches for rest stations.

"I guess you wish you hadn't made that bet now, huh?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah. I should've sneaked out later." Ino laughed. "Damn, he's persistent. But it's just another day to the border, isn't it?"

Sakura nodded. She yanked the water canteen from her bag and took a long sip. Rubbing her sore ankles, she took advantage of the momentary break. Then they were running again. Feet pounding, they were determined to cover as much distance as possible.

They'd already developed their plan. Run by day and rest by night. The first day had been murder, their feet not used to so much work. Sakura had used at least a couple dozen dollars of the money Sasuke had given them to buy bandages and salves. But as the days dragged on, they managed to get used to the grind of their feet against the leather of their sandals and the pace by which they ran. When it became too dark to run, they stopped running and made camp by the firelight of Ino's fans. Sakura laid out a tarp and draped a blanket over it. They were brand-new, she could still see the price tags, which they hadn't ripped off. They'd left their bags back at the palace and had to spend a few hours looking for proper equipment.

She plopped down on the tarp. Ino stretched across it and sighed.

"Wish I had some sleeping pills. Doesn't that stuff knock you out and help you sleep or something?"

"Nah. That wouldn't be very good for you," Sakura commented. She rolled over. "Ooh, you know what I'd like? A nice hot cup of honey lemon tea. My mom used to make that in winter. And in summer she'd chill it. Mmm…"

"That was the good old days, huh, Saks?" Ino laughed. "But I wouldn't mind some of that honey lemon tea too." Then she groaned. "Aww, why do you put these ideas in my head?"

"You started it with the painkiller deal!"

"True." They shifted around to find a more comfortable position. Sakura ended up on her side with her nose near the grass.

"Night, Saks."

"Good night, Yamanaka." She breathed in the sharp scent of pine needles, listened to the wind weaving through the trees. Then sleep overcame her.

_Entwined. By. Memories._

Her feet smacked down hard. Shocks of impact streaked through her body, but Sakura didn't stop. Ignoring her screaming muscles, she and Ino raced forward. Keeping their eyes on the wooden structure, they ran harder than ever. It was the border, finally. After weeks of hardship and struggle, they'd finally made it. Hurling full-force, they skidded to the stop and reached the end of a lineup. Breathing heavily, Sakura exchanged a victorious grin with Ino. They'd actually done it!

"Wh-hoo! Screw the stupid bet. Screw the guy with the clay crap. We did it!" Ino exclaimed. Sakura raised her hand and Ino slapped it. Then they grabbed each other in a hug and spun on the road until they were dizzy.

"Yay! We did it, we did it!" Sakura yelled. Then, remembering they were in a line, she looked sheepishly at the other people. They didn't seem to notice any of the wild celebration going on behind them.

Ten minutes later, they were bored again. The euphoria of triumph lasted for about five minutes. None of the other border crossers had acted like they wouldn't mind chatting, except for one man who'd complained about his aching back. So they settled in a harmony of mutual impatience. Finally, Sakura and Ino were the third people in line with a couple of people in front of them.

"Man, can't these people move any faster?" Sakura complained. "It's like they want to keep us in this country or something." She looked over at Ino, but her friend wasn't listening. Her eyes were fixed on a dark shape that was coming close toward them.

"Oh shit." The red clouds on the person's cloak were not clearly visible to the girls, but they could at least make out the splotches of scarlet.

"Come on, come on, hurry up!" Sakura yelled in a voice scarcely above a hiss. The first person in line shuffled past the wooden barricade. A burly guard gave a scathing look to the rheumatic man in front of them.

"Come on, guard! Faster faster faster!" Ino hissed.

"Next," he growled. The old man chuckled. Sakura prayed that they could get across soon without the old man delaying them.

"Back in 'ma day, you young folk was more respectful to yer elders," he croaked insolently. Shit, shit! Sakura cursed the old man, but he wasn't a frantic runaway on the verge of being caught. He didn't know that he practically carried their fates on his ancient shoulders.

"Passport," the guard glared at the man. Sakura felt her underarms beginning to get moist.

"I tellin' you I got more than enough proof that 'ma intentions'r good, but 'ere ya go, son," the elderly man handed a slip of paper to the guard. Sakura felt her palms begin to sweat. She hastily wiped them on her dress. Beside her, Ino kept an eye on the Akatsuki and muttered a string of profanities under her breath.

"This seems to be in order," the guard said. "Now get outta my sight." Finally!

"Ain't y'all gonna ask what I'm gonna do when I'm in that spiffy country?" the old man rasped. Damn old man, Sakura thought. She panicked inwardly. "Y'all really slackin' off, ain't ya?"

"Just go!" yelled Sakura. The two bickering men stared at her, then the guard firmly shoved the old man across the swinging gate.

"Next." They handed them their 'passports'. It had taken them a few days to figure out exactly what a passport looked like and what was written on it, they didn't have their passports with them. "Sarasa and Yukino?"

"Yeah, yeah," Ino said impatiently. The guard looked at the fake passports, then at the two girls. Sakura's heart rate increased. They had to make it, they just had to!

"Go," he pushed them into the gate. Sakura and Ino nearly ran into it. On other side, they punched the air in triumph.

"YEAH!!!" Ino yelled. Sakura looked over her shoulder and stuck her tongue out at the man with the orange mask and Akatsuki cloak, who suddenly looked less formidable at the end of the line. She laughed, laughed hard at Akatsuki, at their victory, and at whatever unknown force had kept them from escaping earlier.

Then he bent to the ground and picked up an object.

"Miss? I think this is yours," he waved it at them. Sakura felt her blood run cold when they recognized the glint of metal. Ino's fire fans.

"Ohgoddamnmotherfuckit," Ino muttered. Then she put on a smile and directed it to the man. "Would you please bring that over?" He chuckled.

"I'm sorry, I'm traveling alone, so no one can save my spot in line. You'll have to come over here," he added with a touch of smugness. Sakura saw Ino clench her fists. White showed at her knuckles.

"Little bastard," Ino growled. But the guard opened the gate and waited for Ino to cross. She turned to Sakura, who couldn't read her expression.

"Saks," Ino said in a low voice, "you go on without me. I'll find a way to escape. Just leave some clues or something and I'll catch up."

Sakura was struck dumb. Leave Ino and escape by herself? Leave her best friend to the mercy of Akatsuki? The very notion of it was unthinkable. If she went back with her friend, she was admitting defeat and offering herself to the very people she feared most. But even if she did go through sadistic torture, she would be going through it with Ino. And that was enough. Sakura shook her head.

"No. If you go to Akatsuki, I'm coming too."

"Saks-"

"Hey," Sakura said softly, "I don't leave anyone behind. You know that's not the type of person I am. I'd never be able to get over it if you got hurt and I wasn't there to help. Please, Ino-chan."

Maybe it was the mention of her name, or the sincerity and pure and simple truth in Sakura's words, but something made Ino smile and stretch out her hand to Sakura. The pink-haired girl took it, and they walked back across the border together. The orange masked man seemed surprised to see them together, but he handed the fire fans to Ino and held the two best friends' shoulders in a firm grasp.

"Sempai will be happy I brought you back!" he said to Ino. She looked at him like he was mold growing on bread. He didn't react, apparently he was used to it. Instead he analyzed her closely. "Hmm… yeah, I can see why he goes to all this trouble."

"Really," Ino replied without curiosity. She gave Sakura a look that said 'oh dear, what have I gotten myself into?'

"You should be honored! Sempai is the coolest-"

"So you've got them, can we go now?" a familiar voice drawled. The girls turned. Sakura's eyes widened.

"Kiba!"

Back at the academy, Inuzuka Kiba was famous for his wild personality and wildly popular puppy, Akamaru. He was the type of boy who talked back to anyone who thought less of him, but he was friendly and outgoing. His family raised puppies, which they sold to the village. A couple of years ago, Kiba's dog, Akamaru, was small enough to fit snugly in the front of Kiba's shirt, but now he was as large and as fast as a horse. Sakura and Ino hadn't been very well acquainted with Kiba, but they were glad to see him anyway. Kiba's eyes widened at the sight of them.

"Sakura? Ino?" He loped over to them, grinning broadly. "Man, it's good to see you two. I thought that smell was familiar, but I just couldn't place it. How are you guys?"

"Pretty good for chicks who evaded Akatsuki twice and managed to make it to the border," Ino said rather proudly.

"Mouthy as usual, Yamanaka," Kiba replied good-naturedly. Then he caught sight of the orange-masked man, who was still clutching the two girls. "I see you've met Tobi-san."

"I'd love to stay and chat, but we really must be going. Kiba, can Akamaru carry you three?" asked Tobi. Kiba looked at Akamaru, who growled.

"He says he'll need a break, but yeah, he can."

"Sure, than let's go!" Tobi exclaimed. Kiba rolled his eyes and mouthed 'Akatsuki subordinate' at Sakura.

Sakura had forgotten what riding a horse was like, but she thought it was likely less tumultuous than riding Akamaru. She had to cling to Kiba, which was awkward enough as he was male and smelled oddly like a mix of sweat and leather, but she also had to deal with Ino's arms around her waist. Sakura hated being sandwiched in the middle.

"You okay, Saks?" Ino asked over the rush of land speeding by them. They passed a family on the path, the youngster of the group saying 'Mommy, can I have a doggy like that?"

"Pretty darn good," Sakura replied. They stayed on Akamaru for another couple hours and set up camp when the sun set. Sakura was surprised to see that they'd already covered at least a quarter of the distance to the palace. She dreaded their return and wished Tobi hadn't urged them on so vehemently. Maybe she could delay the trip.

"We're going to arrive by tomorrow night!" Tobi proclaimed after examining a map. Curse irony, so much for delaying their return.

"So you two are going to be concubines, huh?" Kiba said casually. Sakura stiffened, but Ino sighed heavily and replied "Yeah. I can hardly wait."

"It's not _that_ bad," Tobi said. Ino shrugged. An awkward silence fell.

"Well, I'm have to find a bush," Tobi's voice shattered the tension. He stood up and walked deep into some shrubbery near the path. "And no peeking!" he yelled over his shoulder. Ino pretended to make binoculars with her fingers and Sakura laughed. Kiba seemed be a bit uncomfortable. As soon as Tobi was out of earshot, he beckoned frantically to Sakura and Ino.

"Shit, get the hell over here!" he hissed. Ino raised an eyebrow but scooted over.

"Guys," Kiba muttered in a low voice, "make sure you find a girl called Temari. You _have_ to, 'kay?"

"She your girlfriend or something?" Ino asked uncomprehendingly.

"Keep your voice down!"

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "So what's so important about this girl?"

"She's the leader of the rebels."


	5. The Rebellion Begins

Disclaimer: The reports of my owning Naruto have been greatly exaggerated.

Thanks to all the readers (and reviewers- yeah!!! Rock on!) of this fic!

Important notice: I sort of realized (sadly I do possess a degree of density and carelessness) that some people might like the story plot but not the pairings. If you really can'ts stand and hate the pairing, skip it until you see the end of pairing alert. I wouldn't recommend skipping anything, though, because the pairings are important to the plot and most of the humor, fluff, and intensity comes from the pairing scenes. The current pairings are:

SasuSaku, DeiIno, a handful of side pairings and triangles such as KibaHinaNaru, and future ItaSakuSasu.

Thanks for reading this author's note!

* * *

"Rebels?" Sakura asked disbelievingly. "Are you-" Kiba made a zipping motion to his mouth. A moment later, Tobi burst out of the bushes. 

"Everyone go to bed now! We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow!" he said with all the cheer of a camp counselor. Sakura and Ino exchanged a look and rolled over on their shared tarp.

The next day was dull, to say the least. The girls were tempted to ask Kiba more about his cryptic comment, but couldn't find anymore opportunities for private conversation. As if he'd realized that he had let something important slip between Kiba and the girls, Tobi strayed no more than two meters away from the group. He didn't let them have anymore one-on-one conversations, insisting that they could talk about it as a group. So eventually Sakura and Ino gave up trying to speak privately to one another and kept quiet.

Ino swore quietly under her breath. Sakura turned around and saw Ino was glaring with narrowed eyes at something ahead. She twisted her own body around and gasped.

The palace was every bit as grand as she'd imagined. Crimson walls and golden eaves. Imposing marble steps. Enormous cobblestoned courtyards and swaying bonsai trees. Black lanterns hanging every few paces. A hematite fountain with pools of water trickling from one pond to another like an elaborate staircase. Sakura inhaled deeply. It was a fountain made of _hematite_, for kami's sake. She'd never seen such exquisite taste.

"Isn't it just breathtaking?" she asked Ino. She leaped off Akamaru, feeling as giddy as a child waiting in line at the candy shop. She grabbed Ino's hands and began spinning in a circle with her.

"Whoa, easy there Saks," Ino laughed. She pulled herself free from Sakura's clutches. "And isn't saying that something is breathtaking just another way of saying it shuts people up?"

Sakura laughed. "Aww, lose the negativity. It doesn't look that bad."

"That's the spirit!" Tobi grabbed the two girls by their wrists and hurried toward the tall steps. Ino twirled her finger to her temple in a cuckoo sign and raised her eyebrows at Sakura, who stifled laughter.

"You first, Sakura-chan!" Tobi said some time later. He'd led them down a series of corridors and they paused at a door. Sakura stared at it. She couldn't remember where she'd seen it before. Then her memory clicked and her eyes widened.

"Isn't this-"

"Bye Sakura-chan!" Tobi called. He opened the door and pushed her inside the room. She heard Ino's voice- "You could have let me say goodbye to her, at least!"

"Sakura." It was a statement, not a question. She looked up. Sasuke stood in front of her, but something about him was different. She gulped.

"Hi, Sasuke."

"Sit down." He walked to the table at the center of the room and pulled a cushion from under the table. He yanked out another one for her, and she seated herself tentatively on it. Awkward silence.

"I'm sorry, Sakura." She looked up at his words.

"What for?"

"For helping you and your friend escape." He sighed, so quietly that she could barely hear him.

"No, it's ok!" Sakura answered. "I should thank you for helping us. No one's been so generous since we ran away."

"Your welcome, but you might not be so thankful later on. You might get shit from the other Akatsuki members."

"Then why did you help us in the first place?" Sakura probed. He was profound, she thought. Always changing his moods. You could look at him, talk to him, but you would never really know exactly who he was or how he felt.

"I guess it was pity." He reached for the tea pot. Tilting it deliberately into a couple of porcelain cups, he handed one to her. "You seemed so…" Sakura mentally substituted while he pondered the rest of his sentence. Weak? Helpless? Desperate?

"Lonely." He seemed startled by his own revelation. "I suppose I related to you, so I felt an urge to help. But if anyone in Akatsuki finds out I was partial to even your situation… it could mean consequences. Sakura, it might be best if we don't see each other often."

"Oh." She ran his words through her head. He was scared that Akatsuki might exploit that slight friendship between them, use her as a tool to hurt him. If he hadn't been so nice, and probably if she wasn't a tiny bit fond of him, she would call him a coward. "But you wouldn't mind being friends?"

"No. I wouldn't mind." He smiled. It really did, thought Sakura, make a difference to his fine features. "I'd like that."

"Me too." Then Sakura yawned. It crept on her so fast she didn't even have time to cover her mouth. Darn. She flushed slightly. Then she heard him chuckle softly.

"Tired?"

"Don't laugh at me!"

"You can go back to the concubine's quarters." He looked out the window. For the first time, she noticed that the sun was beginning to set. The last rays glinted off Sasuke's ebony hair, and Sakura knew she was definitely staring.

"Goodnight, Sasuke," she said. Walking to the door, she was surprised to see he somehow got there before her and was holding it open. He smiled slightly at her surprise.

"Goodnight, Sakura." He closed the door. Sakura, in the corridor, stared at it. A revelation came to her suddenly.

That Sasuke made emo hot.

The thought warmed her insides as she walked down the halls, turning at random. Then she realized she had no clue where the concubine's quarters were.

_Entwined. By. Memories._

"Where're we going?" Ino asked. Tobi was leading her down more halls. He seemed to have a spring in his step, and his mood was becoming cheerier by the moment. Ino wondered if he'd drunk a bottle of coke when she wasn't looking. Tobi seemed like a sugar-high type of guy.

"To senpai's room!" Tobi could have said 'to the carnival!' in the exact same tone.

"Whose room?"

"You'll see!" They continued walking. Then Tobi picked out a door- Ino had absolutely no clue how he knew which door led to which room- and yanked them both inside it. Ino landed on her stomach.

"Thanks, Tobi. Nice landing," Ino stated flatly. Then she heard someone chuckle.

"Well, if it isn't my favourite little runaway girl, hmm?" That voice. Low. Amused. Masculine. Ino sighed. It was going to be a _long_ day.

"Hey, it's my brother from another mother," she looked up and smirked.

"What does that make you, my sister from another mister?" he retorted. She grinned. He caught on fast.

"Hi senpai!" Tobi chirped. The man looked at him in a sort of annoyed way.

"So how far did she get, hmm?"

"To the border," Ino muttered. She was still on the floor. He held out his hand to her, but Ino got up without taking it and sat against the wall, far away from both of them.

"You should have seen it, senpai!" Tobi continued. "She and Sakura-chan got across the border but Ino-chan dropped her fans and I picked them up, so they had to go back and then I caught them!" Tobi ended his long sentence panting. When he finished his heavy breathing, he rambled on, "I saw from far off Ino-chan and Sakura started dancing around and whooping when they reached the line for the border. But it was really long. And Sakura screamed at the guy in front to move faster."

The blonde man laughed. Hard. Ino scoffed. "What's so funny?"

He smirked at her. "I knew you two couldn't do anything without getting worked up over it, un. I bet the two of you can't cross a bridge without spray-painting your names on it or something, yeah?" And now Tobi began laughing. Ino didn't know who to punch first, Tobi or her cocky male counterpart.

"Shut up."

"So you're name is Ino, hmm? It fits you, un."

"Meh, I'd rather go by my last name."

"Which is?"

"Yamanaka." He nodded. Ino hoped that the conversation wouldn't end in them having three-way sex or something else. "So what's your name?"

He looked at her as if she'd just asked him if he had menstrual cycles. "You don't know it?"

"Fine, I'll guess."

"It starts with a D!" Tobi said helpfully. Ino turned away to think just as Tobi yelped. Apparently the man just punched him or something.

"D, huh? Hmm… Dosu?" she looked over her shoulder. He glared at her. "Aww crap, I don't know many D names. Daifuku?"

"What the hell, un?"

"Deimaru?"

"Close!" Tobi exclaimed. Ino heard the man growl "Shut up, Tobi" behind her.

"I give up. My knowledge of names stretches only to people who are more familiar to me. Damn, I can't even remember the names of those two people who brought Saks and I the first time."

"It's Hidan and-" Tobi's voice was stifled quickly.

"I thought it was an H and a K or C. Am I close?"

"Yeah."

"K or C… K or C… churro?" This time, they both burst into laughter behind her. She turned around to see them rolling on the floor. "Wow."

"How did you get _churro_ from Kakuzu?" Tobi asked once he calmed down.

"Oh… Kakuzu. So that's his name." Ino was silent for a moment. "So did I get the 'Dei' part or the 'maru' part of Deimaru right?"

"The maru part," Tobi replied slyly. The man swatted Tobi on the arm.

"No, you idiot, the Dei part, un!"

"Just tell me," Ino said impatiently.

"It's Deidara, and you better remember that, yeah."

"Yup, you don't want her to come in here and start calling you _churro_ or something, eh, senpai?" Tobi asked. Deidara reached into a pouch on his right side. When he caught her watching, he smirked.

"Watch closely, Yamanaka." He angled his hand so that she could see it properly. To her horror, there was a mouth on it, digesting some white substance from the pouch. A few moments later, the mouth spat out the white stuff, which Ino identified as clay, and with a clench of his hand a little white bird was sitting on his palm.

"Cool," Ino remarked. Deidara smiled, and then made an odd sign with his hands. Ino had no idea what it was for, but then there was a puff of smoke and the little bird became, well, a _big_ bird and chased after Tobi, trying to peck him. Tobi screamed and tried to dodge it, then gave up entirely and ran out of the room. The bird walked over to Deidara and sat next to him. He caught her admiring it and smiled.

"You like my art, hmm?" She responded with a shrug, but returned the smile. He continued, "Pop is dead, yeah. My style is superflat."

She was confused. "Are you talking about art, or soda?"

"Soda?"

"You know, pop has bubbles and carbon dioxide but flat soda, like grape soda, doesn't have bubbles."

He laughed. "Whatever works with you, un." They were quiet for a moment.

"This is kind of getting boring without Tobi."

"Yeah."

"I'm gonna go. Catch ya later," Ino made for the door.

He was right in front of her, leaning casually on the door frame. Ino was startled, how had he gotten there so fast?

Deidara smirked at her shock. He'd only done it to intimidate her, but her reaction was even better than if she'd yelped or screamed. Her eyes trailed from his face down to his body. He made sure his posture allowed him to look right into her eyes, but he hadn't realized that if she'd kept walking, she would have pressed her lips right to his. Deidara had kissed a lot of girls but somehow Ino was one he wanted to taste. (For the 'he kissed a lot of girls part' what do you expect? I've never seen anyone who has _not_ liked Deidara, on fanfiction, youtube, deviant art, and probably many other places too.)

"Like what you see, hmm? You're not bad either, un." Ino jerked herself back to reality (which, when you're confronted with a 'hot' Akatsuki member right in front of you, is probably pretty hard to do. Seriously- look at MSkyDragons' video Deidara- I just want bang bang bang. A few of those comments are like 'omg l1ke he is soooooo s3xy!! i'd let him bang me anyday!1!!) and glared at him. She tried to sidestep him but he just appeared in front of her, blocking her way.

"You think you can leave whenever you want, hmm?" To his surprise, she smirked.

"Yeah, I think I can." Ducking under his arm, Ino ran as hard as she could down the hall. A flash of pink caught her eye.

"Hey, Saks!" she called. As she caught up to the pink-haired girl, Sakura whipped around and grabbed Ino by the shoulders.

"Where were you?! Damnit, I've been wandering around here for at least ten minutes?!"

Ino waved that aside. "Ten minutes only? Have some patience, Saks."

"Well? Do you know where the concubine's quarters are? That's were Sasuke told me to go," Sakura asked.

"So if it hadn't been _Sasuke_ you wouldn't have trusted him, huh?" Ino commented carelessly.

"He knows more than we do!" Sakura retorted. Then a girl with long black hair wearing a short robe came out of a room. She looked like she was dragged straight from primping.

"Will you quiet down? Hidan-sama is coming!" She scolded them.

"Are you a concubine?" Sakura asked. The girl rolled her eyes.

"Duh. Are you two new?" They nodded. She sniffed. "Figures. Come on." She walked into a room with huge double doors. Sakura and Ino followed her inside and walked into the largest room they'd ever seen. It was only a storey tall, but had to be at least sixty feet wide and fifty feet long. Two doors on the other side of the room were painted, one red and the other black. There were girls everywhere. Some were lying on red and black futons, which covered a large majority of the room. Many of the girls were chatting among themselves, or entering or exiting through the black door. One girl, who happened to be exiting the black door, stopped and stared at Sakura and Ino. Her face broke out into a smile.

"Sakura-chan! Yamanaka!" Tenten raced across the room and grabbed both of them at once in a hug. Startled but relieved to see someone familiar, they hugged her back. The black haired girl gave them an odd look and walked away.

"Hey, Tenten-chan!" Ino cried. "How are ya?"

"Pretty good, thanks," Tenten replied. Her face became sober. "So you guys finally got caught? Akatsuki came to our village a couple of days after you two ran off."

"That's awful," Sakura chimed in. Tenten sighed, and Sakura patted her shoulder. Their brunette friend cheered up.

"So, are you guys entertainers, cooks, or maids?" she asked. Sakura and Ino looked confused.

"Well you see, even concubines have their own hierarchy. Entertainers are on the top, then cooks, then maids. The higher up you are, the more time you spend with Akatsuki. Cooks just, well, cook meals, maids clean all the rooms in this palace, and entertainers dance, sing, that stuff," Tenten explained.

"Crap, entertainers spend the most time with Akatsuki?" Ino asked. Tenten nodded. "Damn. Saks and I pretty much fall in that category."

"Ooh, you two are the girls Tobi-san said would join us?" Tenten asked eagerly.

"Yeah," Sakura sighed.

"You guys can sing and _fire dance_! That's so cool!" Tenten grabbed their hands and pulled them across the room. "I'm also an entertainer. Temari and I work as partners. I guess you guys work together too?"

_Temari._ The strange girl whom Kiba had desperately wanted them to meet.

"Where are we going?" Sakura asked. Tenten pointed to the red door.

"Red one's the entertainers' special quarters. Exclusive to us only. Black door goes to the bathroom." Tenten opened the red door and ascended a flight of red stairs. Still slightly bewildered, Sakura and Ino followed her. At the top of the landing was another red door. Tenten pushed it open, wearing a huge smile.

"Guess who's here!" she called. Sakura and Ino peeked in, and to their utter amazement, a familiar blue-black haired girl was sitting on a black and red futon.

"Sakura-chan? Ino-chan?" Hyuuga Hinata asked.

"Oh my god! Hinata-chan!" Sakura yelled. She flung her arms around her happily surprised friend. Ino stretched her arms out and embraced the two girls.

"Hey, Hina-chan, how are ya?"

Hinata laughed at Ino's use of her nickname. "Oh Ino-chan, you haven't changed at all either." She let go of them and sat back on her futon. The girls suddenly saw she was wearing a black cross collar dress with red trimming. They hadn't noticed Tenten's change in clothing, because Tenten so often wore cross-collared shirts back at the village.

"What's that you're wearing?" Sakura asked. Hinata looked down.

"It's called a qipao. They are easier to make than yukata, so now we have them as standard concubine apparel." Hinata gestured to two more futons on the other side of the room. A folded qipao lay on each one. "You have them too. By the way, who are your dannas?"

"Our _what_?!" Ino asked. Hinata looked surprised.

"You know, the Akatsuki member who usually calls for you. Here, you always see only one man, they claim you as their own and no one else in Akatsuki can take you. Or you don't have one?"

"Oh. Sasuke, I guess," replied Sakura. It felt strange to relate herself to him in such a way.

Ino huffed and plopped herself on the floor. "He isn't my fricking danna. I'll have a fricking danna when I want a fricking danna, end of story."

A voice laughed. "You might want to keep your voice down. Akatsuki can hear, you know." They turned at the sound. A girl with forest green eyes and flaxen hair in four ponytails was perched next to a futon. She had an oversized fan next to her and was polishing it.

"What do you mean, Temari-san?" Tenten asked. Sakura's breath caught in her throat.

Temari smiled at them. It was kind, but somehow firm as if she knew what she was handing out with every upwards flick of her mouth. It was easy to see that responsibility had fallen on her shoulders at an early age. "Not everyone feels the same as you do. Ino, was it? You're funny, but you might want to keep that to yourself around Akatsuki."

"Kiba wanted us to meet you. He said it was very important," Sakura said. It was better, she thought, to just get it over with. Go straight to the point.

Temari raised her eyebrows. "Kiba, huh? Well that makes all the difference." She stood up and gestured to them. "Tenten-chan, Hinata, you two. Let's go. Keep as quiet as you can. One at a time, count to thirty after the person in front of you leaves, then go." They walked down the red stairs and Temari exited the small room. Tenten smiled at them.

"Don't worry, Temari-san's a good leader. Firm but nice." Tenten loped through the door. Hinata counted aloud quietly to thirty after the door shut, then left. It was just Sakura and Ino left.

"I wonder where we're going?" Sakura asked.

"Dunno. But if it's anti-Akatsuki, I'm in," replied Ino. There was a pause. Ino went through, and Sakura counted to herself while wiping her moist palms on her skirt.

A few of the concubines looked up as Sakura crossed the room. She was surprised to see a few of them swigging some amber liquid from a bottle, which they were passing around. Sakura opened the door on the opposite side. The others were waiting for her.

They walked at a brisk pace. Temari instructed them on how to keep their paces light-footed, and they barely made a sound traveling down the halls. Finally, they reached a door with a brass lock, which Tenten unhinged and opened to reveal the courtyard, cloaked in darkness, outside. Footsteps tapping on the stones, they wove past lanterns into a mass of shadow.

"Temari-san, don't we need light?" Hinata asked. Ino drew a fan out of her pocket.

"Here you go. Don't burn yourself." By the dim lantern shadows, Hinata looked apprehensive.

"No thank you, Ino-chan. Ano… could you light it?" Hinata tentatively asked. Ino shrugged.

"Sure." Swiping the end of the fan against the lantern post, she lit it with a careless brush.

Temari nodded in approval. "Impressive." She gestured to a mound a few paces away. "Everyone behind here." They huddled behind a few shrubs at the base of the hill.

Sakura shifted uneasily. There seemed to be something soft and scratchy under her feet, but it didn't feel like grass. Temari saw her movements.

"Don't sit down, Sakura." She flashed her a bitter grin. Sakura settled for squatting instead. Ino held the flaming fan in the center of the circle. Sakura looked into everyone's faces. Somehow, they all seemed older by the shadows thrown on their faces. Temari especially looked like she had raccoon eyes and hadn't slept in a week or so.

"So Kiba told you about the rebel group, right?" Sakura nodded. "There's more to it. Well, first we want you two to join. You guys escaped Akatsuki twice, for kami's sake. That's better than anyone else we know has done. How did you do it?" Sakura looked at Ino.

"Uh... mostly luck," Ino answered. "The first time, we got caught while performing for money. Then I made this bet with an Akatsuki member- long story- but we got free and then Tobi and Kiba caught us. Not sure why Kiba was working with them, but whatever."

"How did Tobi and Kiba catch you?" Temari asked. Sakura saw Ino look down. It actually was kind of embarrasing.

"Ino sort of dropped her fire fans and Tobi wouldn't give them to us unless we went back across the border. So we did." There was a long silence. Then the other three girls began laughing.

"Hey!" Ino exclaimed. Temari managed to calm down and looked serious.

"So you never thought about making a new set of fans or anything like that?" No answer. "That was thoughtless, but you did get to the border, which is _very _impressive. You guys are reckless, but rebels often do have to jump in with both feet." Temari stared up at the dark sky. "So Tenten, where should I start now?"

"How about when you were captured?" Tenten offered.

Temari grinned. "Good suggestion. Thanks. Yeah, I used to live on the other side of the country. Akatsuki passed through and took me with them, and my brother Kankurou tried to stop them."

"And?" Ino said in a low voice. Temari sighed.

"He got killed."

"We're sorry," Sakura said softly. She herself hated bringing up those memories, those flashes of her family, thin with gaunt cheeks, skin that stretched too tightly over brittle bones. Starvation had snuck up on them and stolen their health. And the starvation, the illnesses, the pangs of hunger Sakura had so often felt, all that had been caused by Akatsuki.

"No prob. But I, I vowed to stop them. Put an end to it all. So one night, I crept away. Managed to make it to your village, where that guy- you know Shikamaru, right?"

"Nara? Fairly well," Ino replied. A flicker of a smile darted across her face.

"Yeah, him. I guess he saw me, managed to figure out I was a runaway. Well, he got kind of antsy right in the middle as I was explaining. Probably because I said Akatsuki was going to come here. I guess he was scared that you guys, like Tenten and Hinata, would get taken away and such. I learned you two also ran away. Somehow, that conversation turned to us saying that something should be done about it, and we kind of recruited a few of your other friends too. Your village is also supporting us in our- well, you could call it a vendetta. So we're the only official rebel group, right now." Temari caught Sakura's dubious look. "Yeah, sounds too simple, but that's actually what happened. It sounds a lot less cool when I repeat it."

"Do we have a name or something? Doesn't seem fair that Akatsuki gets their own palace and stuff and we're just a rag-tag group," Ino commented.

Temari smiled dryly. "I agree. Right now we're called JRG. J-R-G. It stands for Jinchuuriki Rebel Group."

"What's a jinchuuriki?" Sakura asked. The whole thing was going too fast-paced. And yet, it also caused a little shiver of excitement to run up her spine.

"A jinchuuriki," Temari lowered her voice, "is a human with a demon sealed inside them. You know the Akatsuki have these god-like powers, right? The humans with demons inside them are just as powerful. They can control the demons' powers. We have two of these jinchuuriki, and the Akatsuki have none."

"Why don't they have any?" As powerful as Akatsuki was, they were sure to have known of these powers.

"For one thing, the demon has to be _sealed_ inside the human in order for the human to gain the powers. The only people who know how to seal them are long dead, mostly just of old age or injuries caused by the demon. Akatsuki can't have that power, so they often go away to hunt for these demons and kill them. Typical tyrants. They want to be the only people who have that level of power." Temari took a quick breath. "I have another brother besides Kankurou. His name is Gaara. For years, I was warned to keep away from him, but I got curious and managed to sneak into his room one day. He was really lonely, but we managed to become… acquaintances, if not friends. It turns out, he's a jinchuuriki. People were scared of him and his power. When I was captured, I didn't know he was following me and the Akatsuki people I was with, but he didn't show himself until after I arrived at your village. So we're not totally hopeless. We have a chance."

"But it's one against ten!" Ino exclaimed.

Temari looked levelly at them. "Did you know," she said, "that your friend- what's his name?"

"Naruto-kun," Hinata whispered. Naruto?? Uzumaki Naruto, who loved ramen, had a crush on Sakura, and was a little dense? The same Naruto who was hyperactive and barely graduated from the Academy was more than a match for Akatsuki?

"Yeah, Naruto. He's a jinchuuriki too. His real dad died in sealing this nine-tailed fox demon inside the baby Naruto, so _his dad_, Iruka-sensei, is not actually his dad. Naruto moved here when he was nine because the pressure from the other village got, well out of hand."

"But Naruto-kun always seemed… normal, at least. A little hyper active with a few whisker-shaped scars, but otherwise just like everyone else." Sakura couldn't think of a time when he'd seemed demonic or out of control. It was too much to absorb.

"Well, we did the math," Temari continued. "Naruto has the nine-tails, Gaara has the one-tailed demon. One tail per Akatsuki member, and even if we can't take them down with our two jinchuurikis, then we'll just have to pull a fast, strong sneak attack, one by one on them, and rely on luck. Hopefully, if the whole country hears about this, they'll come to our aid. If you heard that two forces that were equally powerful were fighting, and one of those forces was trying to help you, wouldn't you want to help it too? Yeah, it's a gamble that we're going to have to depend on."

"Everything's a gamble," Tenten sighed.

"True. And we do have to make sacrifices sometimes." Temari paused for a moment. "Take Inuzuka Kiba for instance. He uh…" For the first time since they'd met her, Temari looked uncomfortable. "He- how do I put this- sacrificed his dignity."

"His what?" Sakura asked.

"He got castrated." Sakura and Ino looked away.

"That must have meant a lot to him," Ino muttered to Sakura.

"The only people," Temari explained, "who are allowed to move inside and out of the palace are the Akatsuki, their subordinates, and a handful of eunuchs. The opportunity was too good to pass up. Kiba acts as messenger between us and JRG. We have one group inside the city and another outside it in your village." She counted on her fingers. "Let's see… inside there's Neji, Shino, and Kiba. Outside there's Naruto, Gaara, Lee, Chouji, and Shikamaru."

"What do we have to do, then?" Sakura asked.

"Surprisingly, a lot. We have to sketch blueprints of the palace and know it inside and out. Since the concubines have to work in the fields when we're not with Akatsuki, at meals or in the room, we have to use that as training time, improve our strength and stamina. We have to find out about Akatsuki, exactly what they can do. And if you can, seduce them. Then they might hesitate before attacking. That hesitation might just be the thing that will help Gaara and Naruto beat them. So, yeah, that's basically it in a nutshell. Any questions?"

"Wait," Ino held up a hand that still clutched the fire fan, "it still seems like a huge gamble that we'll probably lose."

"That's 'cause it _is_ a huge gamble that we'll probably lose. But no one else is going to get back the country and defeat Akatsuki." Temari stood up and walked over to an uneven lump on the ground. She gestured Ino over, and by the light, Sakura could see that the lump was actually a ragged tarp covering something. "If you still need persuading, look at this."

With one flourishing movement, Temari whipped the rag off the lump. A scent that carried decay and sour acids slipped into Sakura's nose.

She gasped.

It was a lacerated corpse. Long gashes climbed up the body's face. Dried blood painted on the nails suggested frantic clawing at their own cheeks; rivulets of tear stains suggested torture. Gnawing teeth marks patterned the corpse's limbs. Torn flesh at the ends of the person's wrists implied they had been tasted like a chicken wing and found unsatisfactory, then thrown amongst the trash. Skin peeled away from the body like aged paint. The stomach, slashed open, exposed raw reddish flesh that almost looked like jelly made of blood. Sakura's eyes trailed over mutilated organs the colour of vomit when she saw the person's face and her mind blanked out.

The body was Kurenai-sensei.

"Motherfuckers!" Ino slammed her fist onto the ground. Sakura could see her whole body was trembling. Ino picked some blades of the uncanny grass off her fist. With a sudden repellent motion, she yelped and darted away. Then Sakura realized it wasn't grass at all. It was hair. They were standing in a mass grave. Ino whipped around and the light was thrown on the odd hill.

Skeletons were twisted among each other in a painful fashion. It did not look _right_. She wondered what the skeletons, had they been alive, would have thought. Perhaps a mother would have dismantled herself from between a grandfather's ribs and walked over to her fetus, torn mercilessly out of its mother's womb. Maybe she would shift her unborn child's clavichord until it unhooked from its father's pelvis, and cradled the fetus in her arms. Perhaps Kurenai-sensei would have discovered Asuma-sensei amongst the pile and enjoyed an awkward but sweet embrace. And her father and uncle, who died in war but whose bodies were never found, maybe they would have joked together while their fellow comrades struggled to pry themselves from another's breastbone.

"I'm in." Sakura ripped her eyes from the grave. Ino's fists were clenched tight, her face was starkly white. But her eyes held a wild, angry look. "I'll join you. Let's beat the shit out of Akatsuki."

Temari gave her a broad smile, then turned to Sakura. "How about you, Sakura?"

Sakura paused. "I- need to think for a bit." She turned around and stared at one of the skeletons as if it would give her inspiration. This particular skeleton was entwined with another skeleton that looked about the same height. They both had rather large foreheads. It was almost comical, Sakura let a smile escape. She reached up to trace her own forehead, then touched the skeleton's. Running her fingers through the chalky material, she realized it was almost the same shape. It was an almost eery similarity. Then everything hit Sakura at once.

She was looking into the faces of her deceased father and uncle.

She recognized the angular shape of his jaw. She saw her uncle's foot, the one with the flat bone that had almost prevented him into going to war. She could tell the same arms that carried her on his back when she was a child. She imagined flesh on the bones, a wave from a skeletal arm. Sakura turned to the serious faces of the other girls.

"Count me in."

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Aye-yai-yai, long chapter. Personally, my favourite part of this chapter is seeing Kurenai and the mass grave. I just liked that, not sure why. 

Who's your favourite character? Smart, mature Sakura, sassy Ino, rebel leader Temari, chirpy Tobi, brave Kiba, Deidara-the-guy-with-all-the-fangirls (again, refer to that part about the video I said up there) or stoic Sasuke? Please send your answer in a review!

And yeah, I would really appreciate reviews. Reviews and readers are like a cup of water for a thirsty author. Thanks again!


	6. Odd Situations

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, but I do own the plot of this story!

Yeah. I changed the title of this story. The previous one just didn't fit, ne?

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Sakura hastily brushed dirt off her clothing. She was standing in front of Sasuke's door and was doing a last-minute check. Damn, if she had known working was going to be so dirty, she would have worn gloves and brought a hairbrush along with her. 

When the concubines weren't engaging in other 'activity' with Akatsuki, they were working in the fields. Picking crops, sowing, raking the earth, and fertilizing were among their duties. Temari had instructed the girls to work as hard as they could. Besides farm labour, it was also a good chance for the rebel girls to become stronger. When JRG launched their attack on Akatsuki, none of the girls wanted to get in the way of Naruto or Gaara, so they had to defend themselves. In the few minutes after work, Tenten had taught them a few warm-up stretches. Temari had ingeniously discovered ways to build up the girls' strength, stamina, and aim while making the exercises look like regular field work.

To build up strength, they carried heavy stacks of plants and hay back and forth from the wagons. For stamina and speed, they used the precious quarter hour before the labour began to run as many laps as possible around the field. Sakura and Ino were a little behind the others, but not too far. And for aim, they threw plant stalks to land on a designated spot. It wasn't much exercise, but it was the best they could do.

The whole thing was tiring. Sakura raised her tired arms and knocked on the door. He opened it with a slight smile on his face.

"Konnichiwa, Sakura."

"Hey, Sasuke." She entered the room and planted herself on a cushion. She sighed in relief. Sasuke watched her, amused.

"Tired?"

"Yep." A thought came to her, and she turned to him. "Hey, how come I don't see you out there? Don't you guys have to exercise too?"

"We do. But our methods are much more… fierce."

"Fierce how?"

He leaned back and looked at the ceiling. "Fierce as in make-a-mistake-and-you-might-get-killed kind of things."

"Oh. Do you hate each other that much?" But then they wouldn't have taken over the country together if they did, she mentally added.

Sasuke laughed. "We aren't exactly friends. But we're not enemies either."

"I see." He bent forward and looked in her face. Sakura felt the area under her eyes heat up.

"Have you made any friends?"

She shrugged in a 'sort of' way. "There's always Ino. But if you meet her, don't call her that; she doesn't like her name. I know the other entertainers, but that's basically it."

"Ino, she's your best friend, right? And your runaway partner?" He watched as she laughed. She had white teeth, he noticed. Clean teeth and a friendly smile.

"She got me out of the village. I probably would have been too scared to do it by myself."

"I think you're brave for leaving in the first place."

Sakura started. Brave. That wasn't usually a word to describe her. At their village, people had called her determined, hard-working, and by some audacious people, violent. She was also used to being called hard-headed and often stubborn. She hadn't been able to steel herself and turn her sadness to hatred, as Ino and Temari had done. But now, looking at Sasuke, she thought she could be brave.

"Thanks."

"My pleasure." He eyed her carefully. She didn't know whether to quake or blush under that gaze.

"Tell me about yourself."

"Eh?"

"What you like, what you hate. I would rather be on your good side then your bad side, Sakura."

"You barely know me and you already say I have a bad side?" Sakura laughed. "Well, I _do_ have a bad side. For example, I don't like being sweaty for long periods of time. It gives that gritty feeling, you know?"

"That must have been cumbersome while you were running away."

"Yeah, pretty much. But I just pushed it out of my mind." She took a breath. She would be going off topic, and she hoped Sasuke wouldn't mind. "Ino's a fun conversation buddy. She's good at pushing worries and other stuff out of my mind. Mostly we just talked about what we were going to do when we crossed the border."

He looked interested. Perhaps the topic brought up something close to him. Sasuke had been patiently listening, but this was the first time he had seemed to _absorb_ what she was saying. "What would you have done had you successfully entered the next country?"

Sakura laughed. Now this was a topic she was proficient with. "We would have found a large city, probably take residence in it. Business would be better in the city than in a traveling circus or so. And I've always wanted to have a lot of pets."

He laughed. It didn't sound like a mocking laugh. His laugh was the most joyous sound she'd heard all day. Sakura could listen to that voice for hours and not get bored.

She leaned back, rested her head on the cushion. Might as well make herself comfortable.

Her eyelids were unnaturally heavy. With a great deal of effort, she pried them open. Sakura thought satirically to herself that a wedge would have been useful. Limbs protesting, she propped herself up and looked around. A down blanket slipped off her upper torso. Her mind vaguely registered that she was not wearing shoes. Moonlight filtered through the gaps in the screen, and Sasuke was watching her with an amused and yet kind expression. Wait- what was _he_ doing here?!

He didn't seem fazed as she stammered an apology. Then Sakura realized she was blathering, and stopped.

"Ano… thanks for- allowing me to use your bed."

"Anytime."

Sakura bowed once, then ducked out of the room, face flaming. He watched her leave with an amused smile resting on his face.

_Entwined. By. Memories._

Temari had told her to be careful. She probably thought Ino was more likely to anger one of the Akatsuki than Sakura, which was probably true. Ino was fully aware of that fact, but she thought she would likely die at the hand of one of them anyway. Why not have as much fun as she could –without getting killed, of course- before she died? Or, as Deidara would probably say, go out with a bang. She wasn't a fan of his 'art should be fleeting' thing, but Ino liked the idea, make as much noise as you can before you leave the earth.

She rapped the door once, then let herself in. Setting herself against the wall carelessly, she grinned at the man near her.

"Hey, D. What's up?"

He gave her an annoyed look. "First of all, you address me as Deidara-sama, not Deimaru or churro or whatever you can think of, un. Understand?"

She shrugged. "Sure, D."

Deidara glared at her. "What did I just say, hmm?"

"You asked if I understood. And yeah, I _do_ understand, but I never said I would follow your orders. Understand?"

He didn't reply. Ino couldn't tell if that was a bad thing or not. But she was on a roll, so she continued.

"By the way, do you have laryngitis?"

He turned to her. "_What?"_

Ino grinned. "Laryngitis. Infection of the larynx or something. I thought maybe whenever you talk, some part of your voice system bends out of shape, and when you stop talking, that part snaps back like a piece of rubber and makes that 'un' sound. Is that why you have that speech disorder."

"I'm not going to answer that, yeah."

"Suit yourself." She continued with her interrogation anyway. "Or is it a result of your vocal system having to link up to the other mouths on your hands?"

No response. Ino looked over at Deidara. He appeared to be calculating the various painful ways to kill her. But Ino was having too much fun to want to stop.

"Hey, didn't those mouths on your hands scare people off when you were younger?"

Now she was stepping into dangerous territory. No, scratch that, Deidara thought. She was jumping right in there with both feet and a huge grin on her face. He would probably end up killing her, but first he wanted to see how far she would go.

"Like how did you pick up girls when you were my age?" He turned her, fake hurt written on his face.

"What, you don't think I could have pulled it off even without the hands, hmm?"

"Pick up lines, maybe?" She paused. "What did you say, 'Beauty is art, art is a bang, beautiful, I want to _bang_ you'?"

"That's an awful pick up line, un. I'm surprised you think so low of me, yeah," Deidara said. Ino raised her eyebrows and looked at him.

"So you didn't use one-liners, huh? What did you do, sing to the poor girl?" She curled her fist into a microphone. _"Dirty babe, you see these shackles baby I'm your slave… I'll let you whip me if I misbehave. It's just that no one makes me feel this way…"_

He had enough. Deidara got up and opened the door. Ino stopped singing, curious to see what he would do.

"Kisame no danna!" he called. Kisame opened the door to his room down the hall and gave him an annoyed look.

"What do you want, Deidara?"

"Do you have tape, hmm? Preferably really strong, sticky duct tape, un."

Kisame laughed. "Your girl giving you too much trouble? You should give up. And anyway, chains and handcuffs work _much_ better than tape."

"See?" Ino popped out next to Deidara. "He agrees with me!"

Kisame looked at her and whistled. "Nice. You better keep this one." Ino smiled flirtatiously and ducked back in the room. Deidara followed her and sat uncomfortably close to her. Then he shifted right in front of her, a mischievous look in his eye.

"Hey, what are you-" Something glued Ino's mouth shut. "Mmmf!" Feeling around her mouth, she felt a plastic, smooth piece of tape pasted under her nose. She turned to Deidara and glared at him.

"Don't look at me like that, un," he said. "You brought it on yourself, yeah?"

Ino flipped up her middle finger at him.

He laughed. "I wouldn't mind screwing you either, hmm." Ino walked over to one of his shelves and plucked a fountain pen off it. Scrawling something on a sheet of paper, she thrust it at him and strolled out of his room without a look back. Deidara gazed after her for a moment, then looked down at the paper.

_What the hell? You don't have anything to screw with._

"Why you little-"

Ino, triumphantly tearing the tape from her mouth, laughed loudly from down the hall.

_Entwined. By. Memories._

Crap. Things were NOT going well. Temari's charcoal stick, her only writing utensil, dug sharply into the paper. A little chunk came off at the top. Temari bit back a swear word. Damn, it was hard enough finding ways to communicate. Akatsuki didn't provide them with pencils, pens, nor ink. Kiba had smuggled her the paper. She couldn't risk another graveyard meeting, as she'd heard from one of the cooks that some eunuch had a stomachache from food poisoning and was currently vomiting among the rotting bodies. They couldn't even talk in their private entertainers' room, as Tayuya and Kin, the other two entertainers, might over hear something. The two girls weren't bad, but they had no where else to go and didn't want to risk their chances with Akatsuki. So Temari couldn't depend on them.

She also suspected that Akatsuki was listening in on their conversations. Not because they were suspicious, of course, but perhaps they were just bored. Temari had passed a couple of them in the hall. She'd caught part of their conversation, which had to do with their remarking about how dull some of the concubines were. They had laughed about how the girls had discussed which Akatsuki male was the most handsome and how the conversation had led to an argument over whether Kakuzu was good-looking under his mask. The whole thing had been rather stupid in Temari's opinion, but nevertheless she'd realized that the rebels had to be on their guard at all times.

Tenten entered the room first. With a quick smile to Temari, she set herself on her futon. Yanking the hidden silver daggers disguised as hair ornaments from her buns, she gave them a quick polish. Needle-sharp metal flashed as her cloth swiveled over the reflecting surface. Tenten was Temari's second-in-command, in a way. She was easy to talk to and firmly believed women could be just as strong as men. Temari wholeheartedly agreed with the younger girl's philosophies. Maybe that was why the two girls got along so well. Tenten was every bit as resourceful as Temari.

Hinata entered a few minutes later. With a quick hello and a shy smile, the dark-haired girl lay down and closed her eyes. Though now confident in Hinata, Temari had at first set her standards lower for the other girl. Hinata, however, had proved herself to be a determined young woman and a useful agent. With her look of innocence and timidity, no one suspected her. They all probably believed her thoughts were of drifting through a field of lilies and finding true love. All that regular crap. Ironically, the girl's mind had a mind like a sponge. Hinata's memory was only barely topped by Temari's own. She could listen to a conversation- a short one, but that would suffice- and remember everything word for word. Hinata's talent of noticing miniscule details, combined with her childish façade and quiet steps when eavesdropping, she was the perfect spy.

Finally, Sakura and Ino appeared. Exchanging greetings with the other girls, they perched themselves on Ino's futon and continued talking animatedly. Temari watched them, partly because she wanted to start the meeting and partly because she was just bored.

Those two girls were a little more difficult to pigeon hole into a job or category. They were reckless, but had an odd allure that turned heads. As the only singer and fire-dancer, Sakura and Ino were widely known already throughout the palace. What was even more impressive was that they had managed to dodge the grappling arms of Akatsuki's power and lived. Even more amazing than all their risky stunts was that Akatsuki, specifically two certain members, seemed to be attracted to them. It was an unexpected turn she was unsure how to take advantage of.

Temari looked around. No Kin. No Tayuya. She slid her paper over to Tenten. After a few moments, from Tenten the paper was given to Hinata. Then the paper landed next to Sakura and Ino, who picked it up.

Sakura scanned the words. Hastily, Temari fished out two more sticks of charcoal and tossed them in the two girls' direction. Passing the paper amongst themselves, they had a sporadic conversation. It was too risky to speak aloud, incase someone was eavesdropping.

_T: Hey. Calling JRG meeting. _

_TT: Hi guys! Tenten here. _

_H: Hello. _

_S: JRG meeting? _

_I: What's up?_

_T: I have a little problem. Sometimes it does get tiring being the leader of us girls. I split 50/50 with Shika, but we don't talk much. _

_S: Oh, I see. _

_I: What's wrong?_

_T: Well, you two have been here for only a day, right? And TT and H have been here for three weeks. I've been here for two months and three weeks. _

_TT: And? _

_T: Well, people outside of our little rebel group think we should have some results by now. _

_I: Tch. Try being in our spot, those jackasses. _

_T: Exactly. Anyway, they're beginning to think we're incompetent. It's not really everyone, just those soldiers who've come back losers from the war and are itching for a fight. At first they were all for us being spies and forming plans and such, but since we haven't figured out an attack plan for about eh, if you count my length of time for being here, two months and three weeks, they're getting restless. Questioning our ability to carry this thing out and such. I think they secretly say we're incompetent and want to take leadership of JRG from Shikamaru and I. It's mostly the men, like I said earlier. They don't think a bunch of determined teenagers can pull this off. _

_S: We're not exactly the Fantastic Five or something, but I can sort of see their logic. On the other hand, it IS more difficult than they think it is, doing all this. _

_H: True. But aren't we the ones with the resources, the spies within the palace and such? We have Kiba-kun, our messenger, and we have you, Temari-san, and Shikamaru! I heard his IQ is over 200? _

_T: It is. _

_I: Whoa. That's uncalled for. _

_TT: So Temari, just ignore them and send their crap back at them, you know the drill. _

_T: Well, I can't exactly throw shit at them just like that. It'll be more… sophisticated. But yeah, those idiots'll get the message before we're done with them. _

Crumpling up the paper, Sakura passed it to Ino, who attached the conversation to a chunk of wood and swiped her fire fans on the edge of the door. The paper burned away, leaving no trace of the short meeting between the rebel girls.

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Eargh, this chapter was more disappointing to me. I'm sorry the story wasn't as exciting/ funny/ well-written in this chapter. Next chapter will be better, I promise!

Just wondering- anyone else notice that the DeiIno parts seem to have a lot more dirty humor? I just thought that with Ino's random bluntness and Deidara's... I don't know; it just seems that they would act more like teenagers. Sasuke and Sakura, there's this awkwardness between them because Sakura is more shy around him and Sasuke doesn't really know how to open up.


	7. Pretty Words on the Window

Disclaimer: I'm satisfied with fanfiction, so I have no need nor want to own Naruto.

This is my christmas present to you :)

Again, I'm sorry for that last chapter. I think it could have used more detail in the girls' rebel meeting and the ending was horrible. (calms down) Ok, it might not have been so crappy, but to me it was. If you're going to send one of your own creations out into the big bad world of fanfiction with your name stamped all over it, then it better be good.

Also, I decided (sorry, frienz4ever) that there will be an official on-and-off yuri couple in this story. A sort of friends-with-benefits relationship. I suppose you can interpret the Sakura-Ino friendship as yuri too, if you want.

I put way too many of my own comments (which are in brackets) in this chapter. I couldn't resist :)

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A month had passed since they'd settled down at the palace. With the daily workouts, Sakura and Ino had managed to build up strength and light stepping. Ino hadn't understood why they would have to tread soundlessly, but Temari had provided them with an explanation. "We're the only people- besides Kiba- who can gather information about Akatsuki and find out their weaknesses. We'll make awful spies if they hear us clomping down the hall a mile away." 

Life with Akatsuki (doesn't that sound like a title for a soap opera? Life with Akatsuki? In today's episode of Life with Akatsuki, Sakura discovers Sasuke is cheating on her with Naruto! Who does she run to? Ino, of course! Oh sorry, I got off topic again.) was actually a hell of a lot more boring than it seemed. Sakura's life now revolved around those occasional meetings with Sasuke, the secret graveyard retreats with the rebel girls, and laughing her guts out whenever Ino felt satirical- which was pretty often- and did finger puppet shows with the berries they were supposed to be harvesting.

Sasuke was cryptic but nice to her. By nice, she did not mean he read her poems or took walks in the forest holding her hand. Well, she wouldn't have minded that. He was steadfast and honest.

Sometimes, Sakura worried about Ino. More specifically, she was worried about what Deidara would do to Ino if she took it too far. Ino seemed like annoying him.

Ino raised a finger and wiped away condensation on the window. Being with Deidara was more fun than she would have thought. She didn't hate him, but it was fun seeing his reaction to whatever scheme her audacious mind had cooked up. In short, she got a kick out of pissing him off. (Not sure if the word 'pissed' shows up on fanfiction. I put that word in a review and fanfiction turned it into asterisks.)

"Hey D, is there anything to do?" Ino crouched and looked at him pointedly.

"You're the one who is supposed to entertain me, un."

"Want me to put on a finger puppet show? Tell you a story? Make tea and biscuits?" Ino asked sarcastically.

He rolled his eyes.

Ino looked sideways at him with wide eyes. Maybe that would annoy him. Deidara tried to ignore her, but it's actually harder to ignore someone staring at you like you're the most interesting thing in the universe than it seems.

"Yamanaka, if you're going to think dirty crap about me then don't do it so openly, yeah." It worked. She poked her tongue out at him.

"Shut up, you're one to talk." Ino gave him a half-smirk half-exasperated look. She'd once told him that apparently he gave _her_ a lot of half-half looks. She made it look cute.

"So you think _I_ fantasize about you, hmm?"

"Don't all you guys do that?" He raised an eyebrow at this. "Come on. Boys are hornier than girls. Their minds are addled with testosterone. Guys are the ones who want to go further, and then eventually the girl gets forced into having sex and she regrets it and it all ends in lawsuits and restraining orders."

She was outspoken and brutally honest. Deidara knew he should have killed her long ago- and he was informed of this several times by the other Akatsuki members- but he actually liked having her around. All the other concubines played the same game, used the techniques to get higher on the pyramid of power. She treated him like a friend, even if she was sarcastic more often than not. Sometimes, those few hours snatched between missions and meetings with Akatsuki were the only reason he didn't move away from the palace and let Pein give him his missions elsewhere. Ino was good at livening up the moment.

Ino decided it was enough dirty humor for now. She tried a nicer tactic. Resting her chin on her knees, she smiled at him.

"Enough about that. You know me pretty well- what about yourself? Except for your being an artist, I barely know anything about you."

"Hmm."

She assumed that meant he wanted more detail. "You know, like what do you like to do?"

Deidara chuckled slightly. "You mean, what do I do when I'm not supposedly fantasizing about you being naked, hmm?" Ino tried to kick him, but he effortlessly stepped past her. She ended up sprawling on the floor.

"Ow!" He smirked and smacked his palm on the top of her head.

"Nice one, Yamanaka. Very graceful, un."

Ino squawked. "Why the hell did you do that? I just lost half a million brain cells!"

"I touch your head and you automatically lose half a million brain cells, hmm?"

Hearing Ino's protesting noises ('protesting noises'. Doesn't that sound like Deidara is raping Ino?), Tobi rushed down the hall and burst through his senpai's door.

"Senpai- what's going on?" He stopped. Deidara and Ino both looked alright, with the exception of Ino rubbing her head and swearing under her breath. She looked up at Tobi with a bright smile.

"Deidara doesn't love me anymore, wanna get together, Tobi-kun?" Ino asked flirtatiously. If Tobi's face was visible, Ino probably would have seen a deep red blush.

"How come he gets a suffix and I get stuck with your nicknames, hmm?"

"Fine. So Tobi and I will be going, ok, _Deidara-hime?_"

Tobi burst out laughing. His senpai looked at Ino with narrowed eyes.

"Thanks."

It suddenly occurred to Tobi that maybe Ino-chan and his senpai were in a sort of lover's quarrel. Pein-san and Konan-san never fought, but many of the other members had past girlfriends with whom they'd had a short fling with, then eventually killed. There was always a few arguments in between. If that was the case here, then it was up to Tobi to set things straight.

"Ino-chan, can I ask you something?" he asked.

Ino raised her eyebrows. "Go ahead."

"Are you senpai's girlfriend?" Shocked silence.

"Good question." Ino pretended to think for a while.

"Do you think senpai is hot?" That was another good question. Tobi was pretty good at asking questions that embarrassed her.

"Sure, why not?"

"Be honest, Ino-chan!" Why wasn't Deidara saying anything? She sneaked a look at him. He was watching her like he wanted to know her answer. Time for another hilarious-sarcastic Ino answer.

"Fine. He's _scorchingly sexy._ He's so scorchingly sexy that the very sight of him burns my eyes out, and now I'll have to go to court and sue him for second-degree assault with a fiery weapon." Ino grinned at Tobi. "Does that answer your question?"

They laughed, hard. Tobi actually started rolling on the floor. Deidara wondered if she was actually telling the truth.

"Hey Tobi-kun, where were you just now?" Ino asked a few moments later.

"I was doing Zetsu-"

"Whoa, too much info!" Ino recoiled and scrunched herself into a ball in the corner.

"- _a favour._ I was doing Zetsu-san _a favour_." His senpai and Ino started laughing. Tobi observed them for a few moments.

"Does this mean you two are back together?" More laughter. Tobi shrugged. Maybe that meant they were still quarreling. He darted over to the foggy window, where he sketched for a minute or so. Then he turned around.

"Senpai, look!"

Deidara turned around. His eyes traveled over the drawing on the window. Then he gave Tobi a look that was a combination of 'oh shit' and 'what the fuck?'

"You baka, what the hell, un?"

"What's wrong?" Ino started to turn toward them. Deidara grabbed her shoulders and faced her away.

"I wanna know what's over there! Deidara, stop it!"

"Turn around and I'll kill another half million of your brain cells, yeah."

"But Ino-chan has a right to know what I wrote!" Tobi exclaimed. His senpai pushed Ino to the other side of the room, then ran to the window and wiped Tobi's drawing away. Ino swiveled around and managed to catch half of the message.

"Aww, crap! I can only see half of the words." Ino thought. Some words that were half cleared only had fragments, like 'aman' and 'eida' and 'ver'.

"See you next time, Yamanaka," Deidara said while shoving Ino toward the door.

"Hey wait-" He closed it before she could get back in.

"You know what, Tobi? Maybe the two of you are a good couple after all, yeah."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Both of you seem to enjoy annoying the hell out of me, un."

Ino huffed at the closed door. Turning on her heel, she strolled down the hall to the concubine's quarters. A thought struck her, and she stopped right in the middle of the wood-paneled corridor.

She'd flirted with Tobi back there. Her style was acting sweet and nice, like she had acted with Tobi. Most of the time when she flirted, which was pretty rarely, she just did it for the hell of it. Her flirting with Tobi wasn't really what surprised her- it was that in all the time that she'd known him, Ino had never flirted with Deidara. Sure, she randomly threw whatever came into her head at him, but she'd never acted all cute like she had with Tobi. It just seemed to her that Deidara wasn't the type you flirted with. Ino snorted. Of course, there were a few guys you flirt with in an attempt to get him in the bedroom, but Deidara didn't strike her as that type of guy either.

It was very confusing. She pushed it out of her mind and continued walking.

_Entwined. By. Memories._

Ino knew something was wrong when she stepped into the huge room. There were two details that alerted her: one, all the concubines were staring at the far corner of the room, and two, Sakura and a redhead were the only two people standing up, and they looked like they were about to jump into a catfight.

"Who the hell are you?" Sakura asked. The other girl smirked. Every curve of that motion was sardonic and superior.

"I really can't believe _this_ is what Sasuke-kun puts up with. Maybe he felt pity or something for you, because you sure as hell aren't good enough for him."

Sakura's voice lifted an octave. "Sasuke?"

The red headed girl circled her with a few steps. "What do you have to offer him?" She prodded Sakura's arm, which the Ino's best friend drew back. "You're flat and you have the personality of dirt. I bet you begged Sasuke-kun to take you, or you wouldn't even be here right now."

"I didn't." Sakura's voice was quiet now. Time to step in.

"Man, what are you on?" Ino casually walked through the crowd of girls. Ignoring their stares, she stepped right up to the arrogant redhead and got right in her face. "And you're one to talk. I don't see you up there with us. Didn't make the cut? Or did Akatsuki get scared off by your face and dump you wherever?"

The other girl curled her lip. She looked tougher than Ino, but Ino was taller. Plus, she had those fire fans and a reputation for being impulsive.

"Aren't you supposed to be off being Deidara's slutboard or something? Didn't get your regular sex fix from him today? Aww."

Ino's eyebrows raised. Apprehension spread up Sakura's spine. It looked like Ino was enjoying this. The blonde girl didn't look angry, merely amused.

"Jealous, ne?"

"Go suck his cock or something. We all know you like it."

Ino leaned against the wall and smirked. "Ah well, I don't really have much basis for comparison compared to you, hmm?"

"Shut up. At least some guys do want me. At least I don't stoop so low like you to pick some kinky freak with extra mouths."

Anger flashed in Ino's eyes. This was getting dangerous. "Some guys do want you, huh? Like the ones in the male harems?" She stared hard into the redheaded girl's eyes, long enough to make the other girl nervous. "And don't bitch about him. None of those mouths would get within a three feet radius of your dirty skin, even if you scrubbed it with anti-bacterial and stayed in the tub for a week." Ino took Sakura's arm. "Let's go, Saks. This isn't worth your time."

When they'd seated on Sakura's futon, she let out a sigh and looked at Ino gratefully. "Thanks a lot."

Ino shrugged. "No prob. Why was she bitching all over you anyway? She should keep her PMS to herself."

"I don't know. I was in there talking to Hinata, and then she said she was going to get something and I should wait there. So I did. And then, I sighed. No, I didn't yell or yawn or burp or anything, I just frickin _sighed_."

"Why?"

Sakura looked sheepish. "Eh... well, I didn't see Sasuke today and got kind of disappointed. Anyway, that fiery mistress of death made some comment like 'the high of being Sasuke's pet is wearing off, eh, Skankura?' "

Ino whistled. "Pippi Longstocking's talking out of her ass."

"And that's how it started till you got there," Sakura continued. Ino leaned back on futon and put her feet in Sakura's lap. The pink headed girl patted Ino's ankle fondly.

"Meh. We'll just set her in her place next time she spouts fire."

Sakura laughed. "Make sure you don't get burned." Then her brow furrowed. "But that girl is vicious, though. And now she has it out for you too, Yamanaka."

* * *

If you can't figure out who Miss Fiery Mistress of Death is, think a little harder. If you support her, or support SasuKarin, then sorry. I'm not really Anti-Karin, but she fits so well as an antagonist in this fic. 

No SasuSaku meeting in this chapter. Yeah. Sorry!

Merry Christmas, everyone!!! Anyway, here's something to do when you're bored. The '-' is where Deidara wiped away Tobi's words. Try to decode it! Please send the deciphered message back in a review (yes, I know, I'm trying to get more reviews which is very selfish of me) and I'll tell you if you're right.

_Tobi's window drawing_ (Note: he also drew a giant heart around the whole thing, 3 )

-eida-- + -aman--a --o is L--E 4-ver!!!


	8. My Singing, Your Kissing

Disclaimer: Naruto. Is not. Owned. By Jaded Delirium.

Ughhhhhh. I slogged through this chapter and didn't really want to finish it. I want to skip this chapter and go right on to chapter 9. The chapter after this one is probably going to be the most dramatic one so far. But I have to go through this chapter, because except for a few times out of pure novelty, this is the last time Sakura's singing talent and Ino's fire-dancing skills are going to show up in the fic. If to you this chapter is awful, I'll apologize beforehand. I'm sorry!

And I'm sorry for not updating sooner either. If you've read my profile, I have a knack for updating sporadically and unpredictably. I guess I'll add 'update more often' to my belated birthday resolutions. Reasons why I didn't update sooner: 1) MapleStory (if you want to see my characters, ask me. I'm happy to make new friends.) 2) Laziness. 3) Just because I CAN not update for monthes on end. Ha. XD

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"So," Temari said, "what do you guys have?"

That night, all the girls' dannas (refer to chapter five if you don't remember what 'danna' means in this fic) were away, which meant the rebels had a free evening. Of course, they took the opportunity to sneak out for a meeting in the hideout. Whenever all five girls were available, they would pile together their collected data about the Akatsuki members.

"Hidan spilled a lot this time," Tenten began. "I forgot exactly what I said. Something about Hidan being horny because he needs a virgin's blood for his sacrifices or whatever, but he denied that he wasn't horny, just religious, and that his partner Kakuzu is the pornographic one. He said Kakuzu has these threads in his body that allow him to detach his limbs, and he can also reattach other peoples' limbs, which does sound kind of horny if you think about it. I asked Hidan if he was scared Kakuzu might kill him, and he said no. Hidan is immortal."

"So besides being a full-blown sex fiend, he's also immortal," Ino summarized bluntly. There was a pause.

"Ok…" Her affirmative had just been a sound to lighten the lagging silence. "Hidan… immortal… Kakuzu… detaching and reattaching threads…" Sakura wrote down. Sometimes, she couldn't see why on earth the Akatsuki were so chased after with desperate longing. Since when did 'evil, psychotic villains' become a synonym for 'desirable sex gods'?

"And don't forget that stupid shiny scythe," Tenten added. "He over-polishes it; it nearly blinded me today."

"Bet you five that he checks himself out with it when you're not looking," Temari smirked. "Combs his hair and crap like that."

"Ano…gomen. My danna does not talk about himself nor his partner very much," Hinata apologized softly.

"That's ok, Hina-Hina," Ino grinned at the black haired girl. Whoever Hinata's guy was, he probably lived by the principle of 'shut up and make out'.

Temari closed her eyes. "Sasori has a bunch of puppets. He stays inside his favourite, this bulky hunchbacked thing. I think he uses poison a lot, because I accidentally brushed against his stupid leg and a ton of needles automatically came out. He stopped them from turning me into a porcupine, but he told me not to touch him. Something about the needles being coated with poison, and I shouldn't touch the other puppets either because they're also touch-and-die. A risky but very informative way of gaining info."

"And Sasuke-kun said that he has this sharingan thing that he can hypnotize temporarily and read movements with. Apparently his brother also uses it, but he has this more powerful version. It's called a Mangekyo Sharingan or something. It can hypnotize and send the victim into this sort of hallucination world- ah, it's hard to explain.

"Uchiha-induced LSD?" Ino offered.

"He can also torture a person psychologically and mentally. The other thing it can do is give the user the ability to use this black flame ability. He was kind of vague about it, I guess it's hard for him talking about his brother," Sakura concluded.

"You sure found that interesting, ne, Saks? 'Cause it was about your sweet bunny Sasuke-kun," Ino teased.

"So what if I do. And what's with the sweet bunny Sasuke thing? You make him sound like a dessert."

"How about you, Ino-chan?" Hinata asked. Ino pretended to look blank.

"I got nothing. Zip. Nada."

"Really. You seemed to have a lot to talk about last time I checked," Sakura accused. Ino laughed.

"Let's see… Kisame has this giant sword called a Samehada which _shaves_ like shark skin. He has a lot of that energy that the Akatsuki uses to do all that stuff, apparently he has the most. The guy also uses a lot of techniques which include water. Tobi- he's a subordinate. He was Deidara's partner at one time when they thought Sasori died, but after they found out he was alive, Tobi became a subordinate again. Attacks can go through him so nothing will happen to him, but nothing else is known. Zetsu is cannibalistic and can transport from place to place. And there's the Akatsuki leader's girlfriend. She turns her body into paper sheets, origami stuff. Not quite sure what else she does."

They all looked at Ino in surprise. Sakura put down her charcoal stick. How had Ino gained so much information? Even Sasuke didn't give out so much. Maybe she bribed Deidara and Tobi? With what, though? For a moment, Sakura wondered if Ino had done something drastic and boinked them for background info, but even that was over the line. She shoved the thought in the back of her mind.

"Unexpected, but appreciated. How did you do it?" Temari asked. Ino smiled.

"Believe it or not, I used you, Saks. Indirectly, of course."

"What?"

"I just say something that involved you, so then we were on the subject of friends and such. Then it wouldn't be weird if I asked something about _his_ friends, because I was on the topic of _my_ friends. Then I pretended to be casual and inquire about them. Like when he said 'I think Kisame no danna is part shark or something', I said 'Really? How?' and he said 'He has blue skin. And he has this sentient sword called Samehada which shaves, you know, like shark skin?' See?"

Temari raised her eyebrows. "You're a better actress than I thought. Good job." She took the paper from Sakura, shook off the residue, and folded it in eighths. "We should get this to Kiba. Or Akamaru. Sometimes I wonder why you and Inuzuka didn't get together, Hinata. He's nice and pretty clever. Kiba found a way to sneak messages by hiding them in Akamaru's collar. Maybe you should give him a chance to prove himself."

Hinata flushed. A corner of Temari's mouth raised. She turned to Sakura and Ino.

"You two are leaving tomorrow for some fancy dinner thing, right?"

Ino shrugged. "Some meeting of representatives from Akatsuki and Wind Country. Since these guys are the new rulers and all. They want me and Saks to perform. Hope we don't screw it up and have war between the two countries."

"We'll be back by the next morning, hopefully," added Sakura.

Tenten pretended to clink glasses with Hinata in a toast to the two girls. "Good luck!"

_Entwined. By. Memories._

Sakura and Ino's relationship was never consistent. The level of mutual affection was always high, but the two girls were always changing. Sometimes, Sakura thought Ino didn't know her role. Ino could act like a best friend one moment, a mother the next, and occasionally even a boyfriend. The boyfriend moments always left Sakura a little unnerved, though oddly enough, she appreciated those times. One moment in particular shook Sakura's very foundation and left her with questions that she wasn't sure she could answer.

"Yamanaka, do I look alright?" Sakura asked. She whipped around. "Should I put on lip gloss or something? Am I too pale? Is my face too oily? Holy crap, do I need to diet?"

Ino waved her hands around like fluttering mothes. "Slow down, Saks." She strolled over to the vanity. The washroom was empty except for them, all the other concubines were working in the fields. Ino poked a small bag next to the pink haired girl. A reddish glittery lip gloss rolled out. The fire dancer twirled it with her fingers for a moment.

"Why are you putting this stuff on?"

Sakura spun around on the stool and pointed a Q-tip at Ino. "Ask yourself. You used to be a girly girl."

"When I was like, twelve." Ino pulled out another tube from the bag and began juggling the make up around like they were balls and she was a clown. Sakura watched her for a few moments.

"Can I have that back?" The tubes were tossed to her. With careful fingers, she unscrewed the cap from the lip gloss and moved the shimmering red liquid on her lips. Ino watched her the whole time.

"Do you think Sasuke-kun will like this?"

"I think he would like it more if you didn't use it at all. Think about it. He likes you because you're honest, not fake and playing games like the other concubines. Not like that desperate redheaded slut." Sakura looked at her face in the mirror. Ino turned to look too. They stared at Sakura's face for a few moments. Then the pink head grabbed a handkerchief and started to wipe the make up away. Ino caught her hand.

"That dries out your lips, Saks. Here." Taking a Q-tip, Ino dipped it in an open container of Vaseline. She turned and wiped away the lip gloss from Sakura's mouth.

The close contact, Ino's eyes on her, made Sakura feel odd. Not bad, but odd. A little bit shy, almost. That was ridiculous. She had known Ino since she was six. Their families got together practically every other week. They'd shared secrets and marshmallows forever. Their emotions slipped to one another as easily as a pencil changed hands. When Ino or Sakura had a cookie, they always split it and gave the other half to her. It was a declaration of friendship, _you are my other half, I wouldn't know what to do without you._ And yet, this movement of a Q-tip made her feel exactly as she did with Sasuke. A little shy, a whole lot self-conscious, but thoroughly enjoying it.

The cotton swab caused little piles of thick, gooey makeup to gather on the sides as Ino's hand made the small stick absorb the rouge. She examined Sakura's mouth for a moment. Adeptly flipping the little rod over, she touched the other, clean side to the side of Sakura's lips. The slowness of the process was agonizing. Sakura was torn between a desire for Ino to get it over with and the wanting of her best friend to keep those aqua, bottomless eyes focused on her. The Q-tip slipped across her upper lip. Ino tossed the now soiled cleaning tool into a nearby trash can.

It was over already? Sakura was oddly disappointed.

Ino took Sakura's shoulders and faced her toward the mirror again.

"See? You're much prettier without that stuff. Guys like girls who are natural, not fake and trashy." Ino chuckled. "And I don't think Sasuke likes girls who have slimy lips. It wouldn't help in kissing at all. Don't spoil that, 'kay?" She picked up a satchel and slung it over your shoulder. Turning, she caught Sakura still watching her.

"You coming?"

Snapping out of it, Sakura shoved the makeup into the dark recesses of her bag. Her mouth still tingled with the sensation of Ino's fingers on her chin as she tilted Sakura's face upwards to get a better angle.

Ino had called her gorgeous. Most guys stuck with the traditional 'cute' and 'hot'. Once, Sakura had heard that the boy who calls you 'beautiful' is the one who truly means it and is the one you should keep. What applied to girls, then?

_Entwined. By. Memories._

Her black hair slipped through blades of grass as she bent over. Hinata stood up, her back straight, and her neck received a sudden tumbling warmth as night-black locks dropped from her ponytail. Her ribbon had fallen off. As she turned to look for it, a familiar white dog bounded toward her, white strip of satin in its mouth.

"Akamaru?"

"Oi, Hinata!" Something in the girl leaped, and she ran toward him.

"Oh, Kiba-kun, I'm so glad to see you!" The lean boy grabbed her in a bear hug and spun them both around a few times. When he finally released her from his grip, she staggered for a couple of moments.

"Temari said you had a message for me?"

Hinata tugged the paper from her sleeve. Pretending to stroke Akamaru, she hid the crucial slip inside his collar.

"How are you, Kiba-kun?"

"Good. You?"

"I'm fine, thank you." There was an odd silence. "Did you want to ask me something, Kiba-kun?"

"Yeah." He bent forward, crouched on his ankles. "How's he treating you?"

Hinata caught on immediately. "He's very kind to me. He has never been violent toward me, or condescending at all." The intent focus of his eyes made her flush, and she spun a strand of hair to try to keep her emotional balance. "He- they're not a bit like the murderers we're fighting, Kiba-kun. I know he's a murderer, but he doesn't act like it at all, and then I sometimes forget that he is one, and I'm deceiving him, but sometimes I feel guilty about it, and-"

Kiba watched Hinata's words stumble over themselves with an amused tweak of his mouth. He reached forward and brushed her hair lightly from her forehead. His fingers, though dirty and slightly moist, were gentle. "Be careful, Hinata-chan."

"I will."

"So how are Temari and Tenten? Sakura and Ino still getting picked on?"

Hinata's brow furrowed. "Temari-san and Tenten are always listening for information. It's difficult, because when we pry information out of others, we must act casual and not seem too curious. Sakura-chan and Ino, after Ino-chan announced that Karin was… promiscuous? they're receiving a lot of antagonism from the other girls. I don't know why."

"Hmm. Well, not much we can do." Kiba patted Akamaru's head. The dog bent down slightly for Kiba to mount him. He looked back over his shoulder at Hinata.

"See you 'round, Hinata-chan." He flashed her his famous brash grin, and galloped off with Akamaru. As Hinata watched them leave, a raw gap of loss picked at her. Oddly enough, she couldn't explain why she felt as though, as he walked away, Kiba had taken a part of her with him.

_Entwined. By. Memories_.

Guard Huang fiddled with his gold embellished scroll. Eyes fixed on the road, he wiped his damp palms several times on his scarlet breaches. He was not used to greeting important persons, especially ones from Akatsuki.

Untouchable by mortal limits, the group had sprung up out of nowhere. Poised, stoic, and merciless, they had hurled into the great hierarchies and verbal spats of the world and changed the rules mid-round. Some thought they were gods. Depending on where you came from, they could be demons, vampires, or witches. Monks believed they were Kami's angels from heaven, disguised as devils; perhaps some enigmatic test for them. It had even been surmised that they were fairies.

The coterie looked at him with the mild interest of watching an insect scurry on the sidewalk. And like a gust of wind, Akatsuki came, scattered the dusty fragments of the world, and left.

.O.

Wind country was providing the girls with costumes, which were laid out in an array in the storage room. They didn't know where Sasuke and Deidara were, but that was fine. Sakura picked up a yellow blouse and red skirt.

"What do you think, Yamanaka?" Ino scrutinized the outfit.

"Tacky." Sakura huffed and turned away.

"Hey Saks, is this alright?" Ino pointed at a black spandex dress. It was low-cut with short sleeves that would just cover Ino's shoulders. Lace embellished the edges of the sleeves, the low front, and the bottom of the dress. She picked a pair of black fish nets for her arms and knees. After putting it on, they discovered that the dress only stretched to about five inches below her butt.

"Aren't you going to overheat in all that black? And won't your underwear be seen?" Sakura asked, partly in retaliation. Ino picked up a tiny black pair of shorts and shrugged.

"This can go under it." Half an hour later, Sakura still hadn't found anything. She was about to give up when she heard a shout from the other side of the room.

"Hey, Saks! What about this?"

Sakura gasped.

"Crap, is it too indecent? Do I look fat in it? Will it be too cold to wear it?" Ino stopped Sakura's flailing with a firm hand. She looked the pink-haired girl straight in the eyes.

"Saks, wear it. If you don't, I'm going naked."

They heard a laugh outside.

"Oh yeah, that'll turn you on, won't it, Deidara?" Ino yelled in the direction of the door. Sakura heard a chuckle in reply.

"Oh dear kami, my Sakura's all grown up!" Ino sniffled.

"Shut up!" Sakura shoved her playfully, and, laughing, Ino shoved her back and hopped away backwards.

"I can't believe it! Sasuke is going to _freak_ once he sees y- ow!" Her back crashed right into something, and a tanned hand set on her blonde head.

"Watch where you're going, Yamanaka, hmm."

"Doesn't she look good, DeiDei-kins?" Ino reached up, grabbed a strand of Deidara's hair, and yanked him in Sakura's direction. "See? Doesn't she?"

He pulled out of her grasp. "And now you've switched to DeiDei-kins, hmm? Don't I ever get any say in this?"

"Screw you." Then Ino caught sight of Sasuke watching them indifferently. "Sasuke! What do you think of Saku-Saku here?"

Sasuke turned, and looked straight at Sakura. There was no emotion, as usual, in that gaze. She felt herself shrinking, withering away. It was like being a shrub out in the sun. She was receiving the attention, the light which she needed, but the blazing rays of judgment were beginning to overpower her. The water and confidence from Ino's gushy support was seeping out of her, evaporating into nothing. Sakura seemed to grow more insignificant.

And then it shifted. The ridges of this mouth flexed upward. It was a tiny smile, but that didn't matter to her. The jewel of a smile was directed at her, for only her. It didn't matter that she might receive jealousy and distaste from the other girls. What was important to her was that she liked it, Sasuke liked it, and her best friend liked it. Sakura, in her rippling long skirt and confidence flowing like moonlight was at that moment beautiful.

She smiled and walked toward the assembly grounds. The party was to be held in a large field outdoors. As she made her way to it, viridian skirts stirring lightly in the breeze, Sasuke fell into step beside her. Ino's face broke out into a smile as she watched the pair.

In the spot behind the stage, right before the performance, however, Sakura's jeweled confidence fell.

"Ahhhh, I'm scared, Yamanaka!" she moaned as she paced around and around. Ino groaned.

"Don't say that. I'm the one everyone will be gawking at."

"Well, what else can I do?" snapped Sakura.

"Don't be such a pussy. We've done this already."

"But not in front of so many people! And this thing's important!" Sakura wailed.

"Yeah. Screw up and your asses are grass, un." Deidara played with his clay on the canvas floor. Sasuke, arms crossed, ignored all the conversation. Sakura wished she could be like him sometimes. Completely unaffected by the teeth-grinding pace of the world and all its inanities.

"We don't care. Kiss our asses."

.O.

Sakura took a deep breath. Turned to look down from the outdoor dais to look at Ino. The black-clad girl glanced over her shoulder, smiled quickly. Sakura peered into the cup which Sasuke said he'd put chakra, that strange power only Akatsuki had, into to magnify sound. Breathing softly, she sang into it.

"_The light of the bamboo forest; the desert of an island country  
The country of seven colors continue to flow in the winds  
There's a type of mystery, the grey swirl  
Swirled me into the mysterious fog  
The hands that can not be clearly seen, a flower being passed over  
The softness which whom has passed? _

_The pain across one thousand years is only for an ending  
The shape that you left is pointing me, so that I'm no longer lonely in the darkness  
The sadness across one thousand years, it's you who's waiting for me at the end  
The most beautiful sensation will worth me to use my whole life to protect it_."

**Inserting Stuff From Jaded Delirium here: These lyrics are Thousand Year's Love (or A Thousand Years of Love) by F.I.R. . My friend (thanks, frienz4ever) said the lyrics are supposed to be different. I barely know the mandarin language so I may have gotten the wrong lyrics. Everyone, the song really is better than these lyrics make it sound. **

Below, she could see Ino whirling on the dance platform. Light played across her features. Feathery tendrils flowing from her fire fans made her look like some sort of fiery angel. The sight was spectacularly lovely.

Pause for the music, then repeat again. As the final lines swept out of her mouth, she waited for the last chimes to signal the end of the song. Part of her wanted the melody to keep flowing, the song to keep going, but she knew their one-time performance had left more than an impression on the stiff nobles and their ladies.

As the applause drifted over them like white-capped waves, the girls felt the warm satisfaction that greets a true ending.

.O.

"Where have you learned to sing that way?" Sasuke questioned.

Still giddy on triumph, Sakura skipped along the path beside him. Ino was somewhere back at the party behind them, but Sakura wasn't concerned with her right now.

"It's natural," she replied. Twisting her head, Sakura caught Sasuke raising his eyebrows. "What, you don't think I was born with these genius talents? Not everyone has mediocre singing ability, huh, Sasuke-kun?"

"Are you implying that my vocal talents are terrible?"

"Maybe."

"Hn."

They settled near a cluster of bathtub-sized rocks. Sakura settled in the nook of one. Tipping herself backwards, she trailed her fingertips through her hair, letting the pink strands spill over the stone's snags and peaks. Beside her, Sasuke's eyes fixed intently on her face. She grinned.

"What?"

Chuckling slightly, he shook his head. Sakura shrugged and pulled herself to an upright perch.

"Don't I get something for all my hard work?"

Sasuke did that cool one-eyebrow-raised thing. She admired his talent for that. "Since when?"

"Come on. Like, a present of some sort," Sakura said. Tingling nerves crept into her fingers. She wriggled them to get rid of the feeling.

"What type of present do you have in mind?"

"Don't know, but it better be a good one, Sasuke-kun."

He did something that was a sort of cross between a snort and a snicker, like a sharp exhale, but a very short one. "Give me an example."

Sakura felt a wicked grin spread across her face. Sidling over to him, she cupped his shoulders, the firm muscles flexing in a startled reaction under her palms. Her fingers coiled, and she realized her heart rate was pulsing a banging riot.

"Like this, Sasuke-kun."

With a direct purpose, she drew her face toward his. She felt his hair brush lightly against her face. One of her hands drifted upwards to stroke the sharp shadow of the corner of his eye. She heard his breathing, frenetic. Her own exhales, just as ragged.

As gently as two feathers drifting into each other on the wind, the boy and the girl moved together and stole each other's first kisses.

.O.

"Yamanaka?" Sakura asked. Under the moon's hazy glow and the shifting angles thrown across the floor, she saw Ino open her eyes. Thinking it was too late to fly back, they'd boarded a train. The gentle vibrations of train movement had carried everyone but Sakura and Ino to sleep.

"Yeah?"

"You were right."

"What about?"

"I can't remember. Something about Sasuke-" she paused to relish the way the words curled off her tongue, "Sasuke not liking to kiss girls with slimy lips."

As realization shone in Ino's exhaustion-fuddled mind, her eyes brightened. They sparkled like fine ripples on a river.

"Seriously?" Her voice was a soft breath now. Another secret shared between friends.

"Yeah."

Ino reached for Sakura's hand, and, clasping it, gave it a firm squeeze. A light laugh rose from the blonde girl's throat.

Sakura slept the ride away, her head on Sasuke's shoulder and her hand in Ino's.


End file.
